EDUCATOR and PNCR Member of Parliament, Amna Ally wants the Government to press on with the implementation of the National Strategic Plan for Education, since many of the indicators are past their deadlines. Speaking in the National Assembly during the budget debates yesterday, Ally said:
“Sir, the presentation made by the honourable Minister is structured for political convenience… an elections budget and one to make us believe it is all rosy. Not so, sir. We note, very conveniently, that it [the honourable minister’s presentation] did not only evaluate the year 2010 and gave projections for the year 2011, but caricatured the PPP’s last five years in government.”
She said that while a large chunk of the national budget is allocated to the education sector, those outstanding irregularities, and managerial deficiencies; discrimination and corruption loom large in this sector.
Accusing the government of failing to deliver on the promises of the National Strategic Plan for the education sector for the benefit of the nation’s children, Ally said: 
“The achievability and the timeframes for successful implementation of the National Strategic Plan promise the completion of the technical and vocational institutions and their inter-related functions, the expansion of teachers’ education…and all vital components which focus on the development of the education sector. Mr. Speaker, the programmes as outlined are good, but no doubt its achievability is stagnated with a plethora of managerial deficiencies, discrimination and corruption [resulting in the education of children being compromised].”
Ally said the Plan, whose architect was the late Deryck Bernard, is a good one, and that Government is building on it. “This 2000 – 2013 version of the Plan has completed three years and its now in its fourth year. So far, Mr. Speaker, many of its projections have not come to fruition within the given timeframe,” she said.
She added that the fulfillment of many of the indicators of this plan leaves much to be desired. One of these she said is the new Education Act, which was promised by the Plan for 2008. “An Education Bill has not come to the National Assembly three years later,” she said.
Ally said that the some of the practical instruction centres are falling down. “Just imagine, sand and cement [in short supply] to do practicals,” she said. She also added that equipment also are not available and those available are obsolete.
She said to the Minister of Education, “Be mindful of your management system as you are confusing your very school managers and as a result, inhibiting progress.”