— applaud gov’t for investing in school-feeding programme

RESIDENTS of Rupertee in the North Rupununi, Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo, lobbied the government to open a primary school in the satellite village as a solution to the challenges children currently face in accessing primary education.

In an open and frank discussion with Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan on Saturday at the Rupertee Cultural Centre, the residents explained that while the village of Rupertee has a nursery school, children between the ages of six and 12 would have to walk, in most instances, close to three miles to attend the Annai Primary School. In the dry season, it is usually in the scorching sun, but the situation quickly moves from bad to worse during the rainy season. Then, children are left with little or no choice than to trek through slush and murky waters to attend the primary school in Annai.

Toshao of Annai, Zackarius Norman, who is responsible for five satellite villages including Rupertee, endorsed the calls for a primary school. “Annai Primary School is crowded, and why can’t we have a primary school rather than having the children walk,” Norman said.
Lloyd Vanlong said that in the absence of a primary school, the children should be provided with bicycles so that they can ride to school. However, he made it clear that the overall hope of the village is to have a primary school constructed there.

David Scipio, a father and resident of Rupertee, told Minister Bulkan that it is extremely difficult for children to attend the Annai Primary School, and would welcome the construction of a primary school in Rupertee. That aside, he said while the village is thankful that its nursery school children are provided with meals under the government’s school-feeding programme, transporting the meals to the school during the rainy season is also a challenge. Scipio recommended that the meals be cooked right there at Rupertee.
“We have a kitchen here, we have the water system installed, if we could get help from the ministry to get a stove and kitchen utensils, it would be much closer to the nursery school that we have here,” he explained.

In response, Minister Bulkan said he will put the village’s recommendations to central government, in particular the need for a primary school in Rupertee given the challenges faced and the expanding population.

Turning his attention to the government’s school-feeding programme, he said the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) administration has been investing in the programme which sees thousands of children being provided with hot meals at school.

Bulkan said while he was not at Rupertee to speak “ill” of the opposition, the record would show that from 2014, when the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) was in government, to 2018, under the current A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC), the feeding programme has received significant financial increases.
He pointed out that in 2014 when the PPP/C was in government, 21 schools in the Rupununi comprising a total of 3,553 students benefited from the schools’ feeding programme to the tune of $117.6M. In 2015, the number of schools remained the same; however, the number of beneficiaries increased to 3641 students. Some $121M was budgeted for the programme that year. In 2016, the APNU+AFC government took a decision to increase the number of schools benefitting to 35. It meant that more children (5,167) benefitted that year with an injection of $129M. In 2017, $198M was injected into the programme to cater for 6,350 students from 52 schools. Last year, the programme benefited from another increase. That year, the programme received a financial injection of $255M, benefiting 7,261 students at 64 schools.

“That’s part of our investment in education – by providing hot meals to the school- children here in this region, from a $117.6M to $255M; but that is only under the Ministry of Education,” the Communities Minister told the residents.

While stating clearly that he would not commit to having a primary school in Rupertee or the preparation of the hot meals there, all the village’s recommendations would be put to central government and the respective ministries.

“This government makes decisions on the basis of information and if the circumstances support the need and there is a justification that you need a primary school here; and that if you have the facilities to administer the hot meals here and not Annai, we will have an open mind,” he told the residents.

He further pointed out that the four dorms located at Sand Creek, St. Ignatius, Annai and Aishalton, have increased subventions. In 2018, the dorms received a collective subvention of $10Minister Bulkan said, when compared to 2014, the dorms received a total subvention of $105M when compared to $65M in 2014.

Other residents like Aubrey Mario expressed the need for the satellite village to have ready access to an ambulance to transport sick residents to the Lethem Regional Hospital. Mario cited the case of a sick, unemployed woman who faced difficulty in accessing healthcare, because she lacked the financial resources to get to the Lethem Regional Hospital. According to reports, Annai, the neighbouring village has an ambulance; however, it has been “down” for almost two years.

Ivor Marslow also used the opportunity to advocate for the Annai Health Centre to be upgraded and fully equipped to treat arising illnesses. “Although you might have trained staff, if you don’t have the necessary tools to work with, it is quite useless,” Marslow posited.

Meanwhile, Gloria Duarte, the Culture Group Leader in the village, asked for assistance for the extension and rehabilitation of the Rupertee Cultural Centre. She added too that a cultural group was asked to perform in Brazil, however, acquiring passports for the children in the group has proven to be challenging. It was noted, however, that government has been decentralising its services to ensure that they are provided to the people within their communities and sub-districts, and districts.

After committing to make representation on behalf of the people of Rupertee, Minister Bulkan handed over the presidential grant to the tune of $800,000 to Rupertee’s Senior Councillor Suresh Andries. Andries said that the grant was earmarked for upgrading their water system; however, on Friday, officials from the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) met with the village leaders and agreed to assist with the supply of water. As such, the leaders will now decide on a general project for utilisation of the grant to the benefit of the residents of Rupertee. Agricultural tools, sports gear and footwear were also handed over to the villagers by the minister and his team.