EDUCATION Minister Priya Manickchand on Thursday confirmed that Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of the National Centre for Education Research Development (NCERD), Mohandatt Goolsarran, was no longer with the entity.
She was at the time responding to a question from the Guyana Chronicle during a press conference in the auditorium of NCERD. The minister explained that her ministry was not renewing the contract of the now former CEO. Mr. Goolsarran’s contract officially came to an end yesterday.
Minister Manickchand pointed out that her ministry was very thankful for the role that the former CEO played and his contribution to the education sector and said that his years of service were well appreciated.
However, she said that in cases where persons are employed on a contractual basis it is expected that they will be aware of the fact that when a contract is up for renewal or it is terminated because of an expiration date that that is nothing illegal. She said that in contractual cases there is no obligation to rehire and it is being taken for granted that all contracted employees are aware of this fact.
The minister said that NCERD is being looked at for some restructuring and changes that are needed which will be in the best interest of the operations of the entity. However she was quick to point out that her statement was in no way downplaying the efforts made by the now off-the-job CEO.
Asked if the refusal on the part of the ministry had anything to do with financial irregularities, Manickchand declined to comment. She did mention however that there were statements and comments being aired on a certain television station in relation to Mr. Goolsarran that can be described as very libellous. She said that the ministry has encouraged the former CEO to respond to those comments.
Manickchand however told the media that while they have advised Mr. Goolsarran along that path it remains in his interest and decision of seeing the importance of responding to claims by the television station and make them aware that their comments and statements were very untrue.
Communication lapse
Meanwhile, Chief Education Officer Olata Sam that same day addressed an issue that had developed at the David Rose School for Handicapped Children at Thomas Lands on Wednesday.
At mid-afternoon, much to the surprise of the differently-abled students and their teachers, a man arrived at the school with documents thought to be faked at the moment, claiming that the Education Ministry sold him a vehicle that was donated to the school by Food for the Poor some years back.
As a result, the teachers and students blocked the path of the truck that was attempting to tow the vehicle away and immediately summoned the police. The vehicle in question was a bus that was used by the school for the transporting differently-abled students.
In addressing the matter, Mr. Sam explained that the vehicle was indeed sold to the man who turned up at the school. Asked what was the reason for the commotion and what reason the headteacher had to call in the police, the CEO said that it was a case of a breakdown in communication between the school’s head- teacher and the Ministry of Education.
Asked if he thought that the commotion and drama that unfolded on Wednesday could have been avoided, Sam said that the matter was a minor one and he considered it a non-issue. Further pressed, he told the media that the ministry disposes of assets very often and this is done mostly without the knowledge of the custodians of the assets.
Asked if that was the right approach and if he expected the Wednesday afternoon drama to be repeated at other schools, the CEO went on to give an explanation that did not answer the media’s question of the necessity of informing school heads and other custodians of the sale of assets.
Mr. Sam sought to play the issue down by claiming that the headteacher should have called the school in such a situation. In fact, he said that the headteacher did not call the right person (at the Ministry) at the time of the drama.
It took the Education Minister Priya Manickchand to bring some explanations closer to the issue by informing the media that the ministry may be at fault and stressed that the ministry may have to look at how it deals with similar issues in future. The minister feels that the heads and custodians of these assets need to be informed of any development in relation to those assets.
The minister assured the media that when under her watch glitches occur in her ministry the body will try its best to ensure that it is recorded as the first and systems will be put in place to ensure that there is not a recurrence. She assured that there will never be another drama like the one that unfolded on Wednesday.
Speaking with the headteacher on Wednesday at the Alberttown Police Station, she described the incident as one that she has never been faced with before and explained that she called the police because she was traumatised.
The David Rose School for the handicapped has children with all forms of disabilities who are tutored by female teachers.
Source: https://guyanachronicle.com/2012/07/02/education-minister-confirms-former-ncerd-head-off-the-job