GOVERNMENT has again demonstrated its commitment to Guyana’s women, this time through the Civil Law (Rights of Persons in Common Law Union) Bill 2012, which was unanimously passed yesterday in the National Assembly.
This bill was tabled by Attorney General & Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, with intention to provide for the rights of persons in a common-law union when a partner has died intestate (without leaving a legal will). This is called intestate succession.
Clause two of the bill provides a single woman living with a single man in a common-law union for not less than five years or vice versa, with the same powers and rights regarding intestate succession as a widow or widower, or a surviving spouse. However, only one such union shall be considered for any benefit.
In addition, Clause Three, Section 2 (6) (a) of the Family and Dependents Provision Act has also been amended, substituting “seven years” for “five years”, to make the section accord with other laws relating to a common-law union.
Nandlall said, “This bill seeks, for the time in the history of our country, to accord to a spouse in a common-law union the right to access benefits under the laws of intestate.”
The Children Born out of Wedlock (Removal of Discrimination) Act 1983 was the first promulgation by Parliament to begin this legislative revolution of recognizing common-law union, and also did the Family Dependents Provision Act in 1990.
Nandlall, moreover, referred to the Married Persons Property (Amendment) Act, which for the time recognised by statute the common-law union. “We had a situation where the Married Persons Property (Amendment) Act of 1990 corrected the historical wrong that was committed against common-law spouses by conferring upon them the right to access matrimonial property in the same way that the legal spouse was entitled to all the years,” he said.
However, he said it did not extend that right to the position “where the spouse dies, and it did not extend to cover the eventuality of where one spouse dies, what is the position of the other spouse,” he pointed out.
“Therefore, this bill seeks to correct an omission which ought to have been corrected perhaps some 20 years ago, and this bill will benefit people right across this country,” he noted.
The Attorney General posited, “It has been lauded by the women’s groups as a great victory for women, and that is indeed true.” He said that men are equally going to benefit, as well as the children of those unions.
“We now can say that, in relation to common-law unions, we have perhaps a complete legislative network and framework which covers every eventuality,” the Attorney General declared.
Education Minister Priya Manickchand lent support to the bill by alluding to the fact that “this Government is friendly to women”. She declared the bill gender neutral, but acknowledged that the major beneficiaries of this bill, once enacted, would be Guyana’s women.
“I invite the National Assembly to join us and declare ourselves in this House openly and proudly that we are a House who will support Guyana’s women,” she encouraged.
“I believe this piece of legislation will do nothing more than to make women more equal,” Manickchand contended.
A Partnership for National Unity’s (APNU) MP James Bond also, in supporting the bill, called it commendable, and congratulated Attorney General Nandlall and his ministry for this effort.
While acknowledging progress made on some issues, a United Nations committee on women has expressed concern about women’s limited access to justice in Guyana, reported widespread discrimination against homosexuals and bisexuals, and whether the root causes of trafficking in women were being addressed.
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) met in New York on Tuesday to begin its consideration of the combined seventh and eighth periodic reports of Guyana. Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Jennifer Webster, led the Guyanese delegation, which also included Education Minister, Priya Manickchand, Presidential Adviser on Governance, Gail Teixeira, Permanent Representative of Guyana to the United Nations, George Talbot, and other officials. CEDAW monitors the compliance of states with the Convention on the Elimina-tion of All Forms of Discri-mination against Women.
Webster presented Guyana’s report which covers 2004 to 2010. According to a UN report on the meeting, Webster said that Guyana is considering proceeding in line with the recommendations of the Human Rights Council’s 2010 Universal Periodic Review. She noted that the country has acceded to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and ratified the Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and Their Families. “Since Guyana was last reviewed much has taken place and much progress has been made whilst some old challenges persist and new challenges have emerged,” Webster said.
The delegation told the committee that despite cuts in development assistance due to the global economic crisis, ingrained prejudices towards women and cultural barriers confronting them, Guyana had rooted the empowerment and protection of women firmly in its national policies, legislation, educational and social programmes, as well as health initiatives. Webster said that through a mix of progressive laws and programmes to stamp out domestic violence and gender-based discrimination in the workplace, ensure women’s representation in Parliament, prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV and provide low-interest loans to buy homes and run businesses, among other things, Guyana had made headway in improving the lot of women.
Unswerving
“The Government of Guyana remains unswerving in its commitment to honour its obligations under the Convention and will expend every effort with available resources — human, financial and technical — to ensure that we continue to make progress for all our people, especially our women and children,” the minister said. She declared that government is tackling widespread gender-based violence in partnership with non-governmental organizations. Webster cited the “Stamp it Out!” campaign, the 2010 Sexual Offences Act, which introduced stiff penalties for offences, “safe zones” for victims and expedited judicial procedures for those seeking redress as well as a new Men’s Affairs Bureau and the recently launched “It’s Our Problem, Let’s Solve it!” campaign which would sponsor public discussion in communities where violence was particularly acute.
Webster also said that legislative and administrative steps have boosted the proportion of women in non-agricultural paid employment, as well as their representation in Parliament and Cabinet-level posts to more than 30%. She added that Guyana’s 2011 Millennium Development Goals progress report showed notable gender-equality achievements in education, curbing infant and child mortality, and stemming poverty, thanks in part to the government’s commitment to earmarking 25% of the budget for the social sector. The minister also noted that the report highlighted key challenges in maternal health. In terms of this, she said that with just six obstetricians to attend 15 000 births annually and limited support from development partners to address that deficiency, the government had taken steps to recruit obstetricians from overseas while placing Guyanese doctors recently trained in Cuba in outlying regions of the country.
According to Webster, with donor funds poised to decline further, Guyana is worried about its ability to maintain programmes begun with external support so as to address communicable diseases affecting women and children in particular. She cited the programme to provide free antiretroviral treatment and prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV which has reduced mortality and improved the quality of life for HIV-infected people. “We don’t want to see those compromised due to a lack of resources,” she emphasized.
The minister also said that Guyana has achieved the third Millennium Development Goal, gender parity in primary and secondary education, and would continue to strive towards parity at the tertiary level. She also said that with government’s housing drive and low-income loans, more women, particularly single mothers, now owned property. The “Women of Worth” microcredit initiative gave women access to low-interest loans and microcredit facilities that enabled them to carry out small business projects in various fields, Webster added.
She also spoke on several other developments including the rising number of women working, the number of women in parliament, and the national priority to tackle the endemic culture of violence and widespread gender-based violence. The “It’s Our Problem, Let’s Solve it!” campaign would comprise community-led discussions in 17 targeted communities from July to November with the ultimate objective of creating a revised national action plan to end and prevent domestic violence, as well as a comprehensive communications strategy and a monitoring and evaluation framework, she said.
Since the lack of timely, accurate data made it difficult to assess efforts to advance women’s rights, the government in 2010 began to strengthen its national monitoring and evaluation systems, beginning first with the health and education sectors, and moving on to the social services and housing sectors, she said. “Some of the challenges which remain are the prejudices, ingrained cultural barriers and male attitudes in our society which are not easily dislodged,” Webster said.
Limited access
The Committee’s 23 expert members acknowledged the progress made, but expressed concern, among other things, about women’s limited access to justice, particularly in rural areas and the hinterland, slow implementation of the Convention and judicial reforms, reported widespread discrimination against homosexuals and bisexuals, and whether the root causes of trafficking in women were being addressed.
They also voiced concern over the government’s ability to sustain programmes in light of reduced external aid, the absence of sex-disaggregated data, and contradictory information in the delegation’s report about women’s access to health care, the mass emigration of trained nurses and other health-care professionals, and the failure of rural courts adequately to address women’s concerns.
Fielding questions from the committee members, Manickchand, according to the report issued by the UN, said that government is doing its best to ensure proper implementation of the Convention’s articles. While it was difficult, and even clumsy, for the judiciary to invoke the Convention in its judgments, the treaty was well reflected in domestic legislation, she said. Regarding women’s access to justice, Manickchand said that six of Guyana’s 10 regions had legal aid services, which had previously only been available in Georgetown. The country’s topography made it challenging to provide access in all the regions, she said, pointing out that most of the regions had courts and that some of them sat daily while others sat only weekly. That was necessary for financial reasons, she said. Guyana’s legal system faced many challenges due to a lack of resources, which caused substantial delays in taking legal decisions, the minister contended.
Under further questioning, Manickchand said that the Guyana Legal Aid Clinic is run by a non-governmental organization but the government provided the entire sum it needs to function. In terms of limitations on the implementation of the Convention, she said the National Consti-tutional Commission had sought to provide two exceptions to the Convention’s implementation: Guyana would implement it as far as its resources would make that possible, and there would also be consideration of the socio-cultural environment.
Manickchand refuted the contention that discrimination against homosexuals and bisexuals was widespread but conceded that the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community was not readily welcomed by the populace. She noted that the Government was consulting the people once again on lesbian and gay relations.
Meanwhile, Webster said that Guyana has legislation aimed at combating trafficking in persons and her ministry focuses on providing psychosocial, medical and economic support, as well as job training to victims while helping them reintegrate into society. The overall aim was to reduce poverty among victims of trafficking and vulnerable segments of society, she said, citing a government programme to aid single mothers, provide skills training for youth, and the “hinterlands” programme aimed at reducing poverty, especially in Amerindian communities. The 2005 Trafficking in Persons Act was stringently enforced, but as Guyana was a small country, few cases were presented for prosecution, Webster said.
Abortion
Several questions were asked on health care and Manickchand, in relation to abortion, said that Guyana had no data to suggest that the high maternal mortality rate resulted from that practice. Recently, there had been one reported death from an unsafe abortion and that had been in a private clinic, she said. The minister also said that while it would be naïve to imagine that some health-care service providers did not ask for money to deliver services that the Government intended to be free, there was no evidence that corruption was endemic to Guyana’s health-care system. She commended the public health care system but said that due to the geography of the hinterland, it was difficult to provide health-care services there. Guyana was offering health-care services to the best of its ability, but it had limited technical and personnel capacity to offer a full range, she said.
Meantime, Manickchand described corporal punishment in schools as “a very sensitive issue” and three government consultations had been held on that subject thus far.
With regards to women’s access to housing, Webster said that the Ministry of Housing had embarked upon an initiative to provide more houses for low-income families and many of the beneficiaries would be female single parents. Manickchand, responding to the question about discrimination against single women in housing, said that when the government had begun distributing housing lots, hundreds of thousands of people and thousands of families had been in need of a place to live. Therefore, housing lots had been given on a needs basis, and the housing needs of those with children had been deemed to be higher than those of a single person, she said. At the moment, demand for housing had decreased, so single women and female single parents were also receiving housing support, she added.
Webster reaffirmed that Guyana is committed to eliminating discrimination against women in all regards. Working in collaboration with civil society, donors, religious organizations, and non-governmental organizations, Guyana would continue to undertake steps and measures to ensure that it was compliant with the Convention, she said.
Silvia Pimentel, the Committee Chairperson and expert from Brazil, thanked the members of the delegation and encouraged them to work towards “a more comprehensive implementation” of the Convention. She also acknowledged the work of Desirée Patricia Bernard, a former expert member from Guyana who had been a “respected force” on the Committee.
MINISTER of Human Services and Social Security, Jennifer Webster and Education Minister Priya Manickchand, who is an avid women’s rights activist, yesterday addressed a gathering during the CEDAW annual meeting at Church Center, United Nations in New York.
The Guyana Government has been adamant in ensuring that all forms of discrimination against women in society are eliminated, since ratifying the convention on July 17, 1980.
The implementation of the Convention is monitored by a 23-member Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
The meeting, which will run from July 9-27, 2012 will see the Guyana delegation submitting its National Report which indicates what measures have been adopted and implemented by government, to give effect to the provisions of the Convention.
During the session, Government representatives are questioned on the content of the report which is submitted, while additional recommendations made will be explored.
Minister Webster is expected to make an address, according to the Government Information Agency (GINA). Prior to this, she expressed Guyana’s pleasure at participating in the 52nd session of CEDAW which reviews the country’s seventh and eighth reports submitted.
“Guyana re-affirms its commitment to the implementation of the CEDAW and the advancement of women’s rights and the attainment of true equality for women in our country,” she said.
Meanwhile, Minister Manickchand stated that the opportunity will allow Guyana to share with the rest of the world its experiences and successes in the area, noting that, “even as we hear from other countries how they have been addressing challenges and obstacles to fully implementing the Convention…some of which are shared by Guyana.”
Also attending the Convention is Troy Torrington, Charge d’ Affaires, Guyana Permanent Mission, United Nations; and Bibi Ally and Shiraz Mohammed, First and Second Secretary respectively, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Convention on the elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was adopted by the UN General Assembly on September 18, 1979. It was entered into force as an initial treaty in September 1981, after the twentieth country had ratified it.
EDUCATION Minister Priya Manickchand has made it clear that there will be no transferring of students from lower to higher schools, based on the results of the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) examinations, irrespective of their connections, stature or relationship with anyone. She made the declaration on Wednesday, at Diamond Secondary School, East Bank Demerara, after a consultation with teachers on corporal punishment and automatic promotion.
The Minister said that, following the announcement of the NGSA results last week, several concerned parents have been approaching the Ministry seeking transfers from the schools for which their children would have attained marks.
However, she said, while her ministry would like to make every child comfortable with the school at which they are placed, the reality is that it remains logistically impossible to do.
She said it is extremely hard and will not be done.
Explaining the reasons, Manickchand said there may be a case where one parent comes and requests that his or her child is placed in a particular school because they missed the mark for that school. She said, like that child, there may be 31 or 41 others who missed the mark for that very school.
“What happens there?” the Minister asked.
She said it will then mean developing one or two additional classrooms to accommodate those students and that requires space.
RESTRICTIONS
Manickchand mentioned, however, that, while there may be some transfers, those would be with restrictions.
She said, where a child is placed at school that has the exact entry mark as another school, a parent could get the transfer to that school, if he or she wishes to have his or her child in close proximity to where that parent works.
The Minister added that these transfers will also be looked at from the angle of the location of the two schools and where the child lives.
But, despite the possibility of transfers, these will only be done during the period July and August when students take up their spots in the respective schools and it is determined that the school has the capacity to accommodate more students.
The Minister said she has already been hit with the harsh reality of having friends and acquaintances upset with her, because she was unable to assist them in the placing of their children in schools they desired but for which they did not attain the marks.
A TEAM of Education Ministry officials headed by Education Minister, Priya Manickchand met yesterday with teachers of Region 4 at the Diamond Secondary School, East Bank Demerara as part of the national consultation on grade retention, repetition, automatic promotion and corporal punishment. These consultations are being held to hear the views of the public, but a special hearing must be given to teachers as the people who deal with the issue on a daily basis. As such, yesterday’s discussion was held with the teachers.
The teachers were encouraged by Education Minister, Priya Manickchand to be frank and open in their concerns, and they embraced the opportunity to bring the minister up to speed with some of the issues they face. The minister confessed to having heard some of what was raised at the meeting.
Minister Manickchand assured that teachers’ views would in no way be sanctioned, as her aim was to reach them and find ways of addressing all the issues affecting the education system. The minister also registered her view that teachers ought to be celebrated for their hard work and dedication.
Meanwhile, the Principal Education Officer of the Secondary Division of the Education Ministry, Ms Melcita Bovell, in her address to the teachers, disclosed that the Education Ministry had a neutral approach to the issues being discussed, because the ministry intended at the end of the consultations to have its knowledge increased and allow teachers to make decisions on the issues from an informed position.
On the issue of corporal punishment, the minister said it remains her personal view that no child should be flogged in school. However, the oath she took when sworn in as minister mandates her to serve in the interest of the people of Guyana, and thus the consultations are geared at hearing from those she serves, since the will of the ministry is not to impose corporal punishment.
Among alternative methods the minister suggested are making a child do several things, such as facing the wall, no talking, sit on a quiet chair, and rewriting words repeatedly.
The minister told the gathering that the alternatives to corporal punishment are many, and these should be explored. She said that hitting children is dangerous and could be considered unhealthy.
According to her, at the end of the consultations, a report will be submitted to the minister, and the way forward will be based on the outcomes and expressions at the consultations.
Meanwhile, as teachers and some members of parent teachers associations stood to make their point, views varied. Some teachers expressed a view that the practice of corporal punishment should be abolished, while others felt that the whipping of children is necessary in schools. There was also the view that the system should remain the way it is; that is: Should a child require discipline in the form of corporal punishment, he or she should be taken to the head teacher of the school, who will flog that child or instruct a senior teacher to do same, but this must be documented.
One teacher spoke of a case in which a student came running to her and held onto her clothing crying. She then saw a fellow teacher heading towards her, and he slapped the child. When she enquired why the male teacher had so done, the teacher said that that student did not want to write.
The woman mentioned that that case, coupled with one in which she had flogged a child whose finger became swollen, caused her to stop beating children. She cautioned her fellow teachers to do the same.
The same teacher is now the head teacher of a school in Region 4. She reminded teachers that they should treat the children as if they were their own precious children, and refuse to flog them in at any whim, and should even be against anyone who hits them in the school system.
She also stressed that the system was in a sorry state and needed to be addressed. The head teacher was referring to the children who continue to be disruptive in the classrooms and refuse to learn. There is a need for them to have remedial classes, among other programmes, to engage them especially if they are not academically inclined.
A member from one of the schools’ PTAs expressed his views that taking a child to a head teacher before corporal punishment can be meted out gives the child the impression that the class teacher is incapable of dealing with him or her, and as such the disrespect begins there, because the teacher is seen as powerless.
However, there had to be some clarification among the teachers, as some of them were of the impression that a child needed to be taken to the HM for every transgression. It was at that point that the Education Minister questioned teachers about their alternatives to corporal punishment in the classrooms.
The response by most of the teachers repeated the very methods listed by the minister earlier as some of the methods that are being explored.
Minister Manickchand asked the teachers if the methods were working, and they responded in the negative. One teacher questioned the ability of the teacher to protect the rest of the students in a class when corporal punishment is not allowed to be used as discipline for children who become a constant bother for others. The teacher cautioned that Guyana must not be fooled into following the rest of the world with all their policies, because, in most cases, physical discipline was still very much in existence in those countries.
One teacher from the Dora Secondary School told his colleagues that there is a difference between the words “use” and “abuse”. He made that point to tell teachers that he believes teachers must be given the privilege to flog students in classrooms, but this liberty must not be abused. He called on the ministry to understand that corporal punishment has a place in society, and called on the policymakers and his fellow teachers to take their logic further. He added that respecting a child’s rights or giving children their rights without giving them responsibilities is dangerous.
Chairperson of the Diamond Secondary School Board, Debra Jack, expressed the view that should corporal punishment be totally abandoned in the school system, other measures needed to be put in place.
She pointed to the lack of councillors, including welfare officers, which she said is offering no help to the school system. She also pointed to the growing instances of abuse and other forms of violation against teachers, and to the many other issues which affect children.
Addressing the issue of automatic promotion, Minister Manickchand reminded teachers that the system applied only to secondary schools. Before getting into the discussion on the promotion issues, the minister reminded the teachers that she had been at the helm of the education sector for only about six months, and her only guidance at the moment are reports in black and white, and information related to her by her officers.
The minister told the teachers that it was now their turn to let her know of how these systems have been working in the classrooms, and added that whatever other issues were bothering them, she would entertain them if they write her directly, or even forward those letters through the union.
She questioned the teachers, based on their assessment and direct contact with the children, if the automatic promotion was doing any good for the children or the education system at large. Minister Manickchand asked teachers if they were able to ascertain if keeping the children back for a term or two has helped them to perform better. That questioned got an almost one hundred percent response in the affirmative that the children are able to do better, but the majority are asked to repeat a class or two.
Minister Manickchand said that reports she reviewed in relation to the “no child left behind policy” and automatic promotion state that some reasons for children not doing well in school were inadequate attention from teachers, children being blamed for their bad performances, and other factors. As such, the policy was introduced.
While it was not raised by the teachers, the minister questioned why is it that children seem to be doing exceedingly well in grades one and two, and when they reach to grade three, something goes awfully wrong with their performance, as reflected in the grade four and ultimately six assessments. The minister pointed to a case where a friend of hers related that her child does very well at answering questions and finding the right answers to questions and assignments when the questions are read to him.
She added that the friend also explained that when the child is left to read and find the answer by himself, it becomes a challenge.
One teacher explained that this is so because teachers are in the habit of reading questions for children for several reasons, one is that the lesson plan comes with several long questions which the children are not able to comprehend, so they tend to have a better understanding when the teachers read them.
The other reason given was the fact that teachers are failing to toughen up on children in terms of allowing them to do reading at an early grade, and thus the reading assistance goes all the way to grade two.
The teacher said that when the children go to write the exams, there is no one there to read the questions to them; they end up ‘messing up’ at the exams, and the trend continues and is reflected at the grade six assessment examination.
One teacher questioned the logic of sending students to sit an examination that they, as the teachers, know that the children would not succeed in. The teacher described such a system as pushing the children through the system, and giving them no hope for the future. She recommended remedial classes instead.
Another teacher commented that automatic promotion in the school systems gives the teachers a sense of demotivation as they see their efforts at working with a child for success as flogging a dead horse. The teacher explained that when a teacher has to teach a child who is reluctant to be present at his classes and fails to show any interest in getting the grades required to move on to a next class, the teacher then becomes disgusted and fed-up, and develops a laid back attitude.
In picking up where that teacher left off, a colleague said that the automatic promotion is damaging the student, as it affects the children; as against allowing the child to see what he or she can cope with, and, where necessary, if the child portrays the inability to cope with academics, then technical vocational training can be the next alternative. The teacher further said that the system, and by extension the nation, was failing the students with the automatic promotion system. That system is regarded as being responsible for a lot of the problems in the school system, and those problems would eventually find their way into society.
Touching on the issue of inclusive education for children with disabilities, in response to a teacher who described the education as rotten, Minister Manickchand said that had Guyana not adopted an inclusive approach for disabled children and made provisions for them to be apart of the public school system, that would have been a reason to describe the system as rotten.
GOVERNMENT’s commitment to supporting and transforming the country’s education system remains strong, and achievements over the last years in both attendance and outstanding performance are testimony to prudent educational policies and programmes.
This was reiterated by Education Minister, Priya Manickchand during a recent visit to several communities in the Mahaicony creek, Region 5 (Mahaica/Berbice).
Following the visit, Minister Manickchand also met with scores of parents, students and teachers at the Karamat Primary School where she participated in the distribution of school uniform vouchers. While reflecting on the successes of the school uniform programme, she said it was introduced about a decade ago to improve school attendance across the country.
The programme, Minister Manickchand added, which was initially started by the Difficult Circumstances Unit of the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security to assist persons with difficult circumstances, was eventually integrated into the wider school system.
“So what started as just a programme for persons in difficult circumstances is now benefitting every single child in the school system…money must not be seen as a barrier to obtaining an education in Guyana,” Minister Manickchand said.
The right to an education, she said is the fundamental right of every child in Guyana and therefore, government will not stand idly and allow children to be deprived of obtaining an education, regardless of ethnicity, geographical location and parents’ financial status.
Against this background, she said that the effectiveness of the programme has not only contributed to a higher school attendance but also created a deeper appreciation for education.
In addition to providing free exercise and text books, teaching materials, hot meals, snacks and school uniform materials and uniform vouchers, Minister Manickchand said the administration continues to be innovative in finding other new ways and initiatives to ensure children attend school.
The school uniform programme was initiated by former President Bharrat Jagdeo from which thousands of children annually benefit.
In 2011 Government spent $266M for the school uniform programme for which over $63M was directed to the purchase of uniform materials for Regions 1, 7, 8 and 9 and the remainder for the six other administrative regions.
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.
…Manickchand unhappy with financial burden on parents
In Guyana when a child completes one level of education be it nursery, primary or secondary school, there is a graduation ceremony.
Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, believes that there is nothing wrong with having a child rewarded for the achievement, but says that the cost attached to such a ceremony has become a burden in too many instances for parents, and as such, this is under review.
Manickchand, in an invited comment Friday, explained that while there have been suggestions in the past on how to deal with the issue of the costs attached to graduations, these did not bear fruit and as such she is going to attempt a serious remedy.
She said that this review is currently being undertaken as a result of the numerous complaints being received on the issue.
Seeking to put a human face to the issue, Manickchand used as an example an instance involving a domestic worker.
The domestic worker, she said, has a child who recently graduated from school and was asked to make payments for various services and commodities such as the child’s graduation certificate, gown, cap and a host of other ancillary costs which make the amount required from the parent a burden.
She acknowledged that a domestic worker, as is the case with thousands of Guyanese parents, works for a limited income which must also be devoted to items such as food and rent.
She says that in some cases it is simply a case where some parents cannot afford the entire package that comes with a graduation ceremony hence the review.
“I am unhappy about this situation,” says Manickchand.
She reminds that it is not a case where graduations will come to a complete halt, but says something has to be done about the mounting financial burden being placed on parents with a humble income.
The pressure is simply too much, she says, to have parents of a modest income be called upon to supply several thousand dollars for items such as graduation gowns, trophies and even the graduation certificate for the child.
Some parents are asked to pay as much as $20,000 in accumulated costs for their child’s graduation.
Graduation Certificates can cost a parent as much as $2,500 which has to be paid before the child can receive the formal recognition.
Other costs would include gowns and in some instances parents are asked to make a contribution towards refreshments and other ancillary costs attached to hosting the graduation ceremony.
Priya Manickchand at odds with Emily Dodson over Linden Legal Aid Clinic
Dear Editor,
I saw an article in the Kaieteur News edition of 26th March 2012 titled “Govt. chided for not funding legal aid in Linden”
The article reported that the President of the Guyana Association of Women Lawyers, [GAWL] Ms. Emily Dodson made her remarks at a symposium held by the women’s arm of the People National Congress/ Reform (PNC/R). The article went on to say that the “President of the Guyana Association of Women Lawyers, Emily Dodson, is appealing to Members of Parliament to ensure Region Ten residents are provided with adequate legal aid services so that the people of Linden would not be treated as stepchildren of this country” and that “for whatever reason Government has not funded legal aid in Linden” and further the said President “enlightened that she recently met with the Leader of the Opposition, David Granger and discussed this issue.”
I find these disclosures that were published extremely interesting. As a member of GAWL and as the Minister who was responsible for the expansion of legal aid services, I feel duty bound to address two issues arising out of these statements.
Firstly, has the role and mandate of my organization the GAWL changed and is the GAWL now engaged in openly supporting/aligning itself to a political party, to wit, the PNC/APNU, and, secondly, the reality of the provision of legal aid services in Region Ten.
Mr. Editor, while, from the article, it is easy to form the impression that Ms. Dodson spoke in her capacity as President of the Guyana Association of Women Lawyers, on a closer perusal, the article is not pellucid if the goodly Ms. Dodson was actually speaking in her capacity as President or if she was speaking as a member of the PNC/R or a sympathizer of the said party.
As a member of GAWL, I know I did not authorize Ms. Dodson to make those wild, ill informed and highly political statements. I have also spoken to several other members of the GAWL who confirm that they too did not authorize the President and/or the Association to make the pronouncements attributed to Ms. Dodson which have not been retracted.
I am curious if, unbeknownst to me and in the absence of the relevant procedures and resolutions, the role and mandate of GAWL has changed and in pursuit of said curiosity and for some clarity, I call on the executive of the GAWL to either adopt the statements made by Ms Dodson or forthwith distance the Association from the said statements.
On the issue of the provision of legal aid to Region Ten, Ms. Dodson’s statements raise two issues which reflect either deliberate wickedness or hopeless ignorance. Ms Dodson claims firstly that the Government of Guyana has not funded legal aid in linden “for whatever reason,” and that there is no adequate legal aid services in Linden and has concluded politically that the people of linden are being treated as stepchildren. I, as would any reasonable person, interpret Ms Dodson’s words as accusing the GOG of discrimination against the people of Region Ten.
Following are the facts as they relate to the establishment of the Linden Legal Aid Clinic (LLAC).
1. From 1993 to about 2008, the sole legal aid provider in the country was the Georgetown Legal Aid Clinic (GLAC) which provided resident services in Georgetown and her immediate environs and from about 2006 to 2008, non – resident service in Region 10. These were the only two regions benefitting from legal aid services offered by the GLAC.
2. The PPP/C in its manifesto of 2006 promised to expand legal aid services. Notably the PNC/R did not even address this important service in their manifesto.
3. The GOG engaged the GLAC in an earnest effort to expand said legal aid services. An agreement was reached that GOG would provide the funding and GLAC would provide the services to Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six and Ten.
4. The said manifesto promise was fulfilled with resident legal aid services being launched in Region Two on the 14th day of June 2008 and in Region Six on the 10th day of October 2008. Only the 27th day of June 2008, Region Five began to receive the same type of service Region Ten was receiving since about 2006, that is non-resident service. The intention was to graduate to provide resident services in all regions.
5. In or around June 2008 after the budgetary allocation had been made to GLAC I was approached by Mrs. Joan Ward-Mars and Mr. Fitz Peters, both Attorneys-at Law representing LLAC. I did not know Joan Ward-Mars but I liked her immediately. Mr Fitz Peters I knew, liked and respected. The lawyers made their interest in operating LLAC known to me and asked for funding from the amount allocated to GLAC. I explained that I could not reallocate funds appropriated in the National Budget as that would amount to misappropriation.
6. At that time LLAC, I was told, was being funded by USAID/GDCCR and I was further told that said funding would end by August 2008. I arranged and hosted a meeting in said June 2008 with Joan Ward Mars and Fitz Peters of LLAC and Josephine Whitehead and Jolyon Hatmin both of GLAC, and asked that GLAC work with the said LLAC members to provide service to the people of Region Ten. At this time GLAC was already providing service to Region Ten and all parties agreed that it made no sense to have two service providers in the same location. I am aware that GLAC, in keeping with their own established standards, asked for particular accounting and other procedures to be followed.
7. I am also aware that LLAC were actually adamant that they wanted to be independent of the GLAC and resisted every effort to come under the umbrella of GLAC who incidentally is the efficient legal aid provider for every other region that has legal aid. Because I generally do not care who provides the service, once the service is provided, and because I believed the members of LLAC to be good people and genuinely interested in providing service, and because there seemed to be great delay in LLAC working with GLAC and because it didn’t make sense to have two service providers in Region 10, I advocated at UNICEF and recommended that funding be provided from the country’s funds to LLAC. Said funding was provided from August 2008 and continues up till now. Consequentially, on the 19th day of June 2009 LLAC was launched and said launch was fully funded by the GOG in the same manner as the launch of every other clinic hereinbefore mentioned.
8. Based on the 2002 census Region Two has an approximate population of 49,254 Region Six an approximate population of 123,694 and Region Ten an approximate population of 41,114.
9. In 2009, GLAC spent approximately $5,119,873 on managing and operating legal aid in Region Two and $4,517,481 on managing and operating legal aid in Region Six. From August 2008 – August 2009 LLAC was granted the sum of $6,764,440 to manage and operate legal aid in Region Ten.
10. In 2010, GLAC spent approximately $6,332,516 on managing and operating legal aid in Region Two and $5,736,835 on managing and operating legal aid in Region Six. From December 2009 – December 2010 LLAC was granted the sum of $6,000,000 to manage and operate legal aid in Region Ten.
11. In 2011, GLAC spent approximately $5,326,607 on managing and operating legal aid in Region Two and $5,170,319 on managing and operating legal aid in Region Six. From April 2011 – December 2012 LLAC was granted the sum of $9,060,070 to manage and operate legal aid in Region Ten. This sum was already handed over and is in the possession of LLAC
The above is the indisputably factual account of the relations between the GOG, the GLAC and the LLAC.
I wish to point out that the claim both by the President of the Guyana Association of Women Lawyers, Ms Dodson and the LLAC’s website that “The LLAC has never received financial assistance from the Government of Guyana” has no basis in reality and in common parlance is just a downright lie.
The fact is that the GOG provided funding for LLAC through the GOG/UNICEF country programme. Had the GOG not advocated for and approved the expenditure on LLAC by UNICEF, funds for the LLAC would never have been disbursed under the GOG/UNICEF country program. The GOG has repeatedly approved said expenditure.
Without said approval the money could not have been granted to nor spent by LLAC. Given that I have explained this repeatedly to various members of the LLAC Board, and that I have even said same from the floor of the National Assembly, I find it extremely hard to believe these statements were simply made in ignorance.
As it relates to Ms. Dodson’s assertion that the amount given to LLAC is inadequate, in my own view (which is extremely partial, and publicly so, to the provision of legal aid service), no amount will be enough or “adequate” for the various kinds of service legal aid centres could possibly provide.
However, I wish to point out that as a matter of fact, by way of comparison, Region Ten has a smaller population than Region Two and Region Ten has a smaller population than Region Six, yet LLAC was given more money than GLAC was given and spent in Region Two and more money than GLAC was given and spent for Region Six in the years 2009, 2010 and 2011.
It seems to me that it may therefore be necessary for the LLAC to review their service to the residents of Region Ten if after all of this expenditure which amounts to more than what Region Two or Region Six gets and spends that the President of GAWL still finds it necessary to call on “Members of Parliament to ensure Region Ten residents are provided with adequate legal aid services”. It may well be the providers of the service that have to be examined. I understand that Ms Dodson works at or for or with LLAC.
Mr Editor, given the abovementioned facts, almost all of which can be found on the world wide web, I leave it up to your readers and the Guyanese people to determine whether the claims by the GAWL President are true or if said statements are ill informed, politically motivated and/or wicked.
Indeed, it is clear that if there is discrimination in relation to provision of legal aid services to the people of Region 10 then it is discrimination in favour of and to the benefit of our Region 10 people. Priya Manickchand Minister of Education
– hundreds of workers who would be affected join the demonstration.
“THEY (the Opposition) keep complaining that we (government) are paying peanuts to workers. Why do they want to take the peanuts from them now? Our workers do not deserve this. They have this country where it is today, and we are going to stand by them,” Public Service Minister, Dr. Jennifer Westford, remarked yesterday.
Hundreds of workers from three government ministries (Housing and Water; Tourism, Industry and Commerce; and Culture, Youth and Sport) yesterday turned up in protest in downtown Brickdam, a short distance away from Public Buildings (Parliament), to voice their concerns over the recent move by the Alliance for Change (AFC) to cut allocations to these ministries; a move that would see them losing their jobs.
Several ministers of the government protested in solidarity with the workers, venting their anger at the move by the AFC while simultaneously calling on their parliamentary colleagues in ‘A Partnership for National Unity’ (APNU) not to support the AFC proposal.
Below are some of the points raised by the ministers:
** DR. JENNIFER WESTFORD, MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE
“As the Minister of Public Service, let me say that we are going to be vigilant, and no one will lose their job. The AFC, APNU, none of the opposition members will make these workers out here lose their job.
“These people, over the years, have been contending that contracted workers are getting multi-million dollars. It’s not so. Contracted workers are public servants who opted to be contracted workers. They get the same benefits as the pensionable workers, so it’s a lie.
“I heard (APNU parliamentarian) Basil Williams said that all of the contracted workers are PPP hacks. We don’t look at politics, or race, or religion when we employ persons. These people are all professionals in their own right, and they deserve to be employed.
“If it means that I have to stand here every day, I will stand here every day. We have a total of 6,000 contracted workers that will be affected, and their families. There is going to be a big spin off.”
** IRFAAN ALI, MINISTER OF HOUSING AND WATER
“The whole objective (of the protest) is to stand up strong together; stand up united to send a strong message that this is not about politics, it’s about the lives of people. And we hope that APNU would not support this AFC amendment, and would let good sense prevail.
“Another proposal that the AFC has is to cut housing by $1B. What this means is that no infrastructural development work would be able to continue. This would affect 6,500 households.
The upgrading of infrastructure would be denied to more than 13,000 households in housing schemes, and 200 households in squatting areas.
There will be no development in Berbice, Linden and Bartica. No new house lots will be developed to satisfy the current demand of 20,000.
“All (that) these workers are saying is: ‘If you have something against the government, don’t punish the workers’. What sense went into that amendment that Mr. Ramjattan brought?
We want our fellow colleagues in the APNU to understand the implications of the actions of Ramjattan and the AFC and not to allow this amendment to pass today.”
*** PRIYA MANICKCHAND, MINISTER OF EDUCATION
“The staff (at the Education Ministry) out here are terrified that this is going to be them tomorrow. We got hundreds of calls this morning from people trying to find out what is happening. The officers cried as I was explaining it.
“This is more than being spiteful; it’s more than being malicious. Cutting jobs, punishing the workers is not punishing the government. In addition to cutting staff, you’re shutting down entire sections of the government.
“We’re asking the AFC to have a heart. Have a heart! How is Guyana going to develop? Who’s going to put our children in school? Who is going to mark their exam papers? Who is going to set their exam papers?
“I’m calling on Ramjattan to have a heart. Is he going to pay these people’s rent at the end of the month? Is Moses Nagamootoo going to put food in these children’s mouths? Cathy Hughes, have a heart!
“And then you stand in Parliament and [speak] on how much you love people. The PPP/C government will stand behind these workers to the end. This sort of irrationality, this sort of madness…
“The Speaker of the National Assembly hosted a meeting last night (Tuesday night) with all the parties, and I heard from my party that the AFC refused to withdraw this motion. I know APNU must have better sense than this.
“This is AFC madness. This is AFC being heartless.”
**** ROBESON BENN, MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HYDRAULICS
“All along, we have been warning the Guyanese public of what the interest of these people are who want to come to power and derail the progress, prosperity and the sustainability through hard work.
“This is an assault on Guyanese workers. It’s an affront and discredit to the Parliament. It is only designed to come to power by sowing confusion, by having us at each other’s throats, and by creating a situation where we will revert to great trouble and problems in our country.
“These proposals are designed to bring the country to a standstill. There’s no sustainability in anything they propose. It will result in working people being pulled out of jobs. It’s to get power at any means and any cost.
“They only want to bring destruction and confusion so that their egos could be fulfilled at the seat of government. Now we know which is the working class party all along, and who wants to destroy the working class.”
*** DR. BHERI RAMSARAN, MINISTER OF HEALTH
“An attack on the Housing Ministry is an attack on the health of the working people. Recently, WHO (World Health Organisation) put out a report which said several tens of thousands of kids die daily because of diarrhoeal diseases linked to water-borne germs.
“Therefore, we are out here in solidarity with the ministries, because this is an assault on the health of the working people.
“Right now, in this country, we have a very significant tourism event, whereby all of the people across the region are recognizing that Guyana was the best kept secret in tourism, and now we’re unleashing it; and this is aimed at undermining that. It means it undermines jobs for people in the service industry.
“This is an anti-working class motion by Moses Nagamootoo and Khemraj Ramjattan. Anti-national, anti-working class because it’s taking away workers’ salaries and bread from their plates, regardless if they are contracted or not.
“The benefits of these workers should not be undermined to get at the government.”