In recognition of your life’s work in service to your community, especially to the end of violence against women and children, and the education of all Guyanese young people, Lesley University is honoured to confer upon you the Honorary Degree, Doctor of Humane Letters. Presented in Boston, Massachusetts, on the 17th day of May, in the year Two Thousand Fourteen.
Tasked with the tremendous responsibility of educating Guyana’s children, Priya Manickchand’s hands-on approach to management is exactly what the system requires. She is a keen listener who thinks outside the box. She is tough but fair.
Personal Life
Name
Priya D. Manickchand
Date of Birth
August 13, 1976
Nationality
Guyanese
Education
Queens College, University of Guyana, Hugh Wooding Law School
Career
Attorney at Law (Oct 2000 – present)
Member of Parliament (2006 – Present)
Minister of Labor, Human Service & Social Security (Sep 2006 – Dec 2011)
Minister of Education (Dec 2011 – May 16, 2015)
Minister of Education (August 2020 – Present)
Spouse
Bhageshwar Murli
Children
Arya and Lucas
Political Life
Priya Devi Manickchand first burst onto the political scene in 2006 as a young Minister. While in charge of Human Services and Social Security, she piloted several critical Bills that were passed in the National Assembly and enacted into law. These include: The Protection of Children Act; The Adoption of Children Act; The Status of Children Act; The Childcare and Development Services Act; The Sexual Offences Act; and The Custody, Contact, Guardianship and Maintenance of Children Act.
She also managed to get through the National Assembly, the Childcare and Protection Agency Act, which in turn established that Agency with its own rules, regulations and governing legislation, making it an almost autonomous body devoted to the sole purpose of Childcare and Protection of children.
At the time of passage, these pieces of legislation were all revolutionary in their outlook and objectives. Manickchand explained that one such piece of legislation under The Status of Children Act deals with a topic that most persons don’t necessarily like to discuss.
“What happens to a child who is born out of marriage…What is his or her status? The question is an important one, because there are laws that cater for how children born to a wedded couple are treated. But what about those crudely referred to as “bastards?”
Further she queried “What is the status of a child born by test-tube procedure? This is our child, this is Guyana’s child!”
The mandatory provisions for children born out of wedlock were not clearly defined in the laws of Guyana, despite the prevalent existence of this phenomenon, and for Manickchand, this was something that had to be addressed. She questioned where such a child would fit into the scheme of things in terms of inheritance and other such instances where children born in wedlock were clearly defined by law.
She spoke of the genesis of the adoption of children and said that she was eager enough to ensure that the process was made friendlier for the children and the persons interested in adopting a child.
“Protection of Children was a huge piece of legislation for me, because it really defined how we are going to go forward as a nation… So often we hear people say that ‘oh, I am only the teacher, and it is not my responsibility.’”
This is a thing of the past now, because the legislation which was piloted by Minister Manickchand now places obligations on persons such as teachers, police and pastors, among others, to have to disclose information if they have knowledge of, or see signs that would indicate a child being in harm’s way.
As Human Services Minister, she also spearheaded the establishment of the Childcare and Protection Unit,with just five persons who were tasked with dealing with a range of matters relating to children. This soon grew into a full-fledged Agency with its own Law.
Under Mission Child Protection, an entire home was built to remove children from the streets, and at present this facility houses and provides care for more than 120 children, with a capacity for more than 150.
“For me the establishment of the Childcare and Protection Unit and then the Agency was hugely, hugely important…I saw immediate results from that particular intervention…we saw lives change right before our very eyes.”
In reference to women, Manickchand reflected that one of the interventions that she would herald as being massively successful would be the Women of Worth (WOW) Programme. The Ministry teamed up with the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry to provide loans for Low Income Single Parent women without having to put up collateral. This programme allowed single parent women to establish small businesses that would provide for their children.
This was a crucial venture, as according to Manickchand, women make up half of the world’s population but control a minimal amount of world’s wealth, “and in Guyana it is no different. Most women don’t have assets… No car or bus, and certainly no house to put up as collateral to borrow some money.”
Another crucial piece of legislation that Minister Manickchand is proud of, is the passage of the Sexual Offences Act that offers protection and makes it easier for persons to report heinous acts of rape.