A ONE-DAY parliamentary exercise which saw members of Parliament Office visiting six schools in Region 3 on Tuesday, included visits to West Demerara Secondary and Vreed-en-Hoop primary schools by Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr. Barton Scotland.The exercise, dubbed: “Taking Parliament to Schools,” was headed by Member of Parliament John Adams, who is also Ministerial Adviser to Minister of Social Protection Volda Lawrence. Others on the team included Parliamentary Public Relations Officer Onieka Walton, Librarian Juliet Bacchus and Office Assistant Safraz Mohamed.

Well over 2,000 schoolchildren benefited from the highly informative and interactive exercise. The six schools visited were West Demerara Secondary, Vreed-en-Hoop Primary, Uitvlugt Secondary, Crane Primary, Vreed-en-Hoop No. 2 Nursery and Stanleytown Nursery.

Vreed-en-Hoop Primary applauded

Questions were asked to test the children’s knowledge of what goes on in parliament, and Vreed-en-Hoop Primary was applauded for having fairly good knowledge and understanding of parliamentary procedures.
The students were sensitised about the basic tenets of parliamentary procedures, such as the branches of government, namely: The Executive, Judiciary and Legislative. They learnt that Guyana is governed by these three separate branches and the power to run the country is divided among these branches to create a system of checks and balances.
THE EXECUTIVE
They learnt, essentially, that the Executive Branch governs Guyana. The President is the Head of State and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Guyana. The President appoints the Prime Minister and other ministers and assigns responsibilities to them.
The Cabinet consists of the President, the Prime Minister and others appointed to it by the President. The Cabinet advises the President in the general direction and control of the government and policies are developed and implemented by the Executive.
THE JUDICIARY
The Judiciary enforces and interprets laws. The Judicial Branch vests its authority in the courts. The courts determine and interpret the law. The courts are independent and impartial and subject only to the constitution and the law.
The Chancellor of the Judiciary is the chief representative of judicial authority of Guyana. The Supreme Court consists of the Court of Appeal and the High Court.
PARLIAMENT
Establishment: The Parliament of Guyana was established by the Constitution of Guyana.
Composition: In accordance with Article 51 of the Constitution, the Parliament consists of:
(i) The President of Guyana
(ii) The National Assembly
Powers: By Article 65 of the Constitution, the Parliament of Guyana is empowered to make laws for peace, order and good governance of Guyana.
Life: The life of the Parliament of Guyana is five years.
Sessions: A session of Parliament is the period which commences with the first sitting of the National Assembly held after a General Election or after a Prorogation of Parliament and which ends when Parliament is prorogued or dissolved.
Summoning: The President, by proclamation, appoints the place where a session of Parliament shall be held and the time at which such session shall begin.
Prorogation: The President is empowered to prorogue Parliament at any time, by Proclamation.
The students also learnt that prorogation does not end the life of a Parliament. It terminates a session of Parliament and brings to a close, all proceedings pending at the time.
Dissolution: The President has the power, by Proclamation, to dissolve Parliament at any time. When Parliament is dissolved, its life and all outstanding business come to an end and persons who were members of the National Assembly cease to be such members.
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Establishment: The National Assembly of the Parliament of Guyana is established by the Constitution of Guyana.
Composition: The National Assembly consists of 65 Elected Members. Forty are elected from the Top-Up List and 25 are elected from the 10 Geographical Constituencies. The National Assembly may also have non-elected members. Currently, two members are of the National Assembly as well as the Speaker of the House are non-elected members.
Functions: The functions of the National Assembly can be grouped under three main heads as follows:
The Legislative function; The Financial Function and The Critical Function.

A Bill: A Bill is a proposed law which is brought to the National Assembly for consideration. After Bills are passed by the National Assembly, they are submitted by the Clerk of the National Assembly to the President for his assent.
Acts: When a Bill, duly passed by the National Assembly, is assented to by the President, it becomes law – an Act of Parliament. (Source: Public Relations Department, Parliament Office, Guyana).
Meanwhile, Speaker of the House, Dr. Barton Scotland said that being Speaker of the House is a great responsibility. Outlining his responsibilities to the students, he told them that he is guided by rules, and those are called Standing Orders. They are, in effect, the rules which help the Speaker to do his work in the National Assembly.
He encourages discussion between the (two) Opposite sides of the House, while sometimes having to call for order. The National Assembly meets periodically to do the business of the country and makes rules that are to apply throughout the country.
Reminding that the Members of Parliament are elected to sit in Parliament as the Speaker tries to manage the Business of Parliament, Dr. Scotland said that when citizens elect Members of Parliament and send them to Parliament, they are there to serve all of us. Therefore, we should all take an interest in what they are doing and what we think they should do.
It therefore behooves everyone to take an interest in what is happening in the National Assembly. “They [citizens] help to support, strengthen, question and satisfy themselves that their interests are being taken care of in Parliament,” he said. And to the students, he added: “So do not think that you are too small to know about what goes on in Parliament. Ask questions of your parents and they in turn will ask. You live in Guyana and have a right to know what is happening in Guyana,” he concluded.