Decentralisation is not derogation

Nov 07, 2023 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Kaieteur News – Minister of Education Priya Manickchand is excusing herself and supposedly her ministry from blame or responsibility, for the Mahdia disaster, by first arguing that it is the Regional Democratic Administration that is responsible for the management of education within the regions.

In a long letter in response to a Stabroek News editorial, the Minister pointed out that Guyana has a decentralised system of government and as such, it is Regional Democratic Councils that are charged with the administration of schools in the regions. It may not have dawned on the Minister that decentralization does not mean derogation. The Ministry of Education, a part of central government, is ultimately responsible for the entire education system. Decentralization does not strip the Ministry of such responsibility. Even if the Ministry of Education did not have direct responsibility for what happened at Mahdia, there is both a political and moral responsibility for what took place.

But Guyana is not a real place. Notions such as moral responsibility does not lead to resignations, as in other places. The Mahdia inferno was the second most tragic human disaster in the history of the country, and no one, Minister, or public official has resigned or is likely to resign. The third most tragic human disaster occurred during the APNU+AFC period in government. Seventeen prisoners were roasted during a fire at the Camp Street Prisons. No Minister or public official resigned after that incident either. As I have said in a previous column, moral responsibility for an incident is when someone accepts responsibility even though that person was not directly (or even indirectly) responsible for it.  You need not ‘be’ responsible for something to ‘feel’ responsible.

If moral responsibility was part of our political culture, persons would have already tendered their resignations. But that is not likely to happen. Moral responsibility is now a political convention and there are several precedents.  In 2009, the Transport Minister of Japan resigned after two trains collided resulting in multiple deaths. The Minister was not responsible for the accident but he accepted moral responsibility and resigned. Forty-seven persons died in an explosion following a train derailment in Quebec in 2013. The CEO of the train company took moral responsibility and resigned. The best-known case of accepting moral responsibility following a tragedy occurred in 1956 in India. The Indian Railway Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri, resigned following a train accident in which 140 persons died. He resigned even though he was not culpable or directly responsible for what happened. He assumed moral responsibility for the incident.

Three weeks ago, the Belgian Justice Minister resigned following an attack in which two Swedish nationals were killed. The Tunisian government had previously requested the extradition of the alleged killer, but the extradition request was not processed because a magistrate did not approve of the request. Nonetheless, the Justice Minister took political responsibility and resigned. In another letter, Minister Manickchand yesterday repeated that it is the Regional Administration that is responsible for schools in the Region. She also said that the regional authorities fall under the Ministry of Local Government.

Her response yesterday seems to be conceding that while there is decentralisation of government, the Ministry of Local Government holds responsibility for the regional administrations. No one disputes that the dormitories were under the management of the regional administration. And no one disputes that the regional administration falls under the Ministry of Local Government. But decentralization of educational services does not absolve the Ministry of Education from control over the educational system.

Does the Ministry of Education not have overarching responsibility education nationally? It was the Ministry of Education, not the Ministry of Local Government which commissioned the study into school dormitories across Guyana. It was the Ministry of Education which received the report which the Minister says was then sent to various stakeholders. The Minister of Education cannot have her cake and eat it too. The Ministry of Education cannot argue decentralisation without assuming responsibility also for the delivery of educational services. It simply makes no sense. What if the regions decide to implement their own curricula? Would the Ministry not intervene?

Administratively, the Ministry decentralises educational services to the region. But it cannot decentralize responsibility for the success or failures of these services. Decentralisation of educational services should not be used as an excuse for the Ministry of Education to shirk its responsibility in addressing systemic deficiencies. While regional authorities have more control over local aspects of education, the Ministry must remain actively engaged in fixing such issues within the system. It is the Ministry’s duty to monitor and ensure that corrective measures, policy improvements, and capacity-building initiatives are implemented. Decentralization should complement, not replace, the Ministry’s responsibilities.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this newspaper and its affiliates.)

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• management, Minister of Education, Peeping Tom, Priya Manickchan, Regional Democratic Administration, responsibility

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