EDUCATION Minister, Dr. Roopnaraine has rubbished claims by the Guyana Times newspaper that “Because We Care” $10,000 cash grant programme started under the previous Administration will be scrapped. The newspaper’s Saturday edition carried an article on the abolition of the programme, claiming that the Granger Administration would “scrap” the programme.
When contacted by this publication, the Minister boldly asserted that the programme is not “scrapped” but is under thorough review and will soon be considered by the Ministry of Finance.
The Guyana Times article said that the Minister “told reporters” at the National Assembly on Thursday that the Granger Administration had been against the initiative when they were the Opposition.
“I believe what I said at that time was that this is a matter that the Ministry of Finance will have to take into account. We have not gone and scrapped it,” the Minister said.
The Minister believes that the programme was a device before the elections which was fostered by the last Government. He said, however, that the Ministry of Education along with the Ministry of Finance will take immense steps to review the education sector’s spending priorities which will determine whether the programme should continue or not.
“We have to look in terms of our own spending priorities whether it is something we can continue with to help those who are most in need, and we will certainly like to do so,” said Dr. Roopnaraine.
After declaring that the programme will be taken in the context of other priorities, the Minister in his final delivery on the situation said that the programme is still currently under revision.
The manner in which the programme was implemented–with no criterion to determine who benefits—was more reflective of political gimmickry, and was immensely criticised.
Many had felt that the programme should have been tied to students’ performance, with the focus being on building strong parental involvement in their children’s education, which would more likely have accrued value for the money invested.
Even children who hardly attended school and those with well-off parents benefited from the initiative championed by then subject Minister, Priya Manickchand.
From observations, the across-the-board distribution was not the ideal approach for a Ministry that was looking to have some positive impact on students in depressed communities.
What obtained under that system was that the grant was distributed equally among students coming from rich and poor homes, whereas the purpose of the programme was to support needy parents; and the sum of $10,000, though welcome, was not enough help for poor single-parent mothers.
Aside from the misinformation on the education grant programme, the Guyana Times also falsely reported that the History Programme offered by the University of Guyana is scrapped.
When this publication contacted officials at the University of Guyana, they expressed deep dissatisfaction over the misinformation and lack of clarification by the Guyana Times since the programme is still ongoing although faced recently with minor hurdles.
By Shivanie Sugrim