While Minister of Edu-cation Priya Manickchand boasted about the advancements made in the education sector, APNU’s shadow minister Amna Ally criticised spending in the sector, saying the nation’s children are not the real beneficiaries.
The two squared off yesterday during the continuing debates on the administration’s proposed $220 billion budget, which the minister dubbed “holistic and comprehensive” while Ally labelled it a “repair and maintenance schedule” and a “spend and hope budget.”
Manickchand’s presentation was overshadowed by the walkout by both APNU and the AFC over her refusal to apologise to former parliamentarian Jaipaul Sharma, who resigned last week over a comment she made in reference to his father facing statutory rape charges. It was Manickchand’s second attempt at making her presentation after APNU had created a ruckus last Friday, preventing her from speaking and forcing Speaker Raphael Trotman to adjourn the sitting prematurely.
However, the minister duly plodded on in her presentation with the loud support of her colleagues on the government side. Ally,
