Luncheon says delivering on promised scholarship a matter of funding – after top-student expresses disappointment
Elisa Hamilton
Elisa Hamilton

CABINET Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon has put to rest concerns expressed by Guyana’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) top student, Elisa Hamilton. Those concerns have to do with her inability to access a scholarship promised her by the Government.Dr Luncheon, during a news conference yesterday, explained that “2015 is a different kettle of fish” – with elections in the air, the dissolution of Parliament, and the consequent absence of an Appropriation Act (a budget).

According to him, expenditures by budget agencies in the absence of an Appropriation Act are limited to one-twelfth of the Budget of the preceding year – a legislative provision that ensured the continued provision of the normal services of the Government of Guyana.
He noted that Ms Hamilton’s case, while unfortunate, comes down to a matter of access to funding, which is routinely catered and approved under the Appropriation Act.
Dr Luncheon pointed out that the CSEC top student is not the only student who has faced difficulties, adding that he has a stack of letters requesting his intervention.
However, he clarified that in the absence of a budget, with elections only weeks away, there is not much assistance he can offer, within the legal framework that guides public expenditure.
The Cabinet Secretary reported too that the Public Service Ministry has reported that some students on scholarships have not been able to receive their stipends from the Government, given the limitations of spending in the absence of a budget.
The Dissolution Proclamation has activated the provisions of Article 219 (1) and combined with the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act, it provides that in any financial year the Government is empowered to spend one-twelfth of the Budget of the preceding year in continuing to provide the normal services of the Government of Guyana, until an Appropriation Act is passed. After Elections, Article 219, paragraph 3 of the Constitution, will be activated to regulate expenditure, until a first budget is passed for the 11th Parliament of Guyana.
All considered, he assured that once the 11th Parliament is convened and an Appropriation Act is passed, these matters will be addressed.
In 2012, President Donald Ramotar announced that the two top performers at CSEC and CAPE would be given automatic scholarships to study in any field of their choice in Guyana or abroad. At the time he was addressing a gathering at the Education Ministry’s National Award ceremony for outstanding performance at the regional examinations.
Hamilton’s disappointment was detailed in a Stabroek News article yesterday, headlined ‘CSEC top student disappointed over promised gov’t scholarship’.
In addition to President Ramotar’s promise, Guyana has engagements with several countries, including India and Cuba, which facilitate scholarships for Guyanese. (Vanessa Narine)

 

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