Dear Editor,
“Government in 2021 launched the GOAL Scholarship Programme and has since increased its offering. In that regard the Ministry of Public Service is asking for an additional provision of $250 million – in addition to the 2.8 billion allocated in the 2022 Budget”. The foregoing is an extract from a related announcement in SN of July 2022. It provides further excitement to that initially generated by the 20 page supplement published in SN of August 10, 2021. Particulars included the following:
International University of Applied Sciences, Germany – which will be conducting four BSc. and one MSc. programmes related to Information Technology.
Jain University of India – which will be offering a wide range of 36 programmes of periodicities from 1–3 years, preeminent amongst which are several versions of financial management programmes, interspersed with a one year course in Human Resources Management.
UWI Open Campus – except for the three BSc. Nursing, another five scholarship programmes at this institution will be for Diplomas of 1 year duration. In addition, UWI will be conducting some 22 six month programmes; but the periods for Therapeutic Massage and of all things, Certificate in Wedding Planning and Decoration, are not specified.
The University of Southern Caribbean – had been selected to conduct a single BSc. programme in Special Education.
Indira Ghandi National Open University – is another extensive educational Institution who will be delivering some 25 programmes – ranging from 6 months to 3 years, the one exception being a two month Certificate programme in Motor Cycle Service and Repair for which there are about 120 awardees. This still does not compete with the approximately 450 awardees to the Certificate Course in Food and Nutrition. (What a hungry public!)
Then there was included a four month programme described as ‘SGA Level 6 Programme’ – for some 1600 awardees. Overall the span of 108 programmes ranged over the following periodicities:
3 years – 22;
2 years – 23;
1 year – 28;
6 months – 33;
4 months – 1;
2 months – 1
So it seems reasonable to expect by now results of these programmes of up to 6 months. The last actually include courses in the following areas:
Disaster Management
Craft and Design (Pottery)
Food and Nutrition
Primary Teaching
Primary School Mathematics
Tourism Studies
Customer Service
Early Childhood Health and Family Education
Event Management
Fundamentals of Facilities Management
Garment Construction
Human Resources Management
Photography
Joinery and Cabinet Making
Project Management
Procurement
The Minister of Public Service in arguing the case for Budget 2022, proclaimed that GOAL ‘has been one of the best programmes ever implemented by any government in this part of the world, and perhaps beyond’. The Minister was further reported to have ‘noted that the programme is reaping successes, although it was only launched last year’ – (with 6,000 scholarship awardees). So arguably it is reasonable for her colleagues first to ask about the successes particularly for employment in relevant projects they may respectively be implementing. Of course such information would be not only incentive to future candidates, but moreso to prospective employers in a rapidly growing job market.
The Minister should therefore feel obliged to publish inspirational information regarding successes so far, with some indication of both current and prospective employment, if only as a justification of the comparatively premature extension of this ambitious developmental programme. For there appears little reflection on the possibility of future ‘Contracted Employees’ – for the Public Service for example – readily accepting the static salaries now payable. The Minister must certainly be aware of the dissatisfaction of current public servants, particularly those in the pensionable category – a matter for urgent discussion with the related union/s.
Then there will be the overspill in respect of even more impoverished Teachers (licensed or otherwise) whose colonial job structure continues to be ignored; but which must certainly be regarded by comparator CARICOM organisations as being most derisible, if not insulting. In the latter connection, one reflects on the declaration published in SN of November 2020 that the President of Guyana had entered into an agreement with the Vice-Chancellor, UWI, Mona, Jamaica regarding the provision of developmental programmes for some 20,000 Guyanese ‘over the next five years’.
But there is also a much wider programme of educational development which would help make the point about the profound under-payment of Teachers at all levels, most ludicrously at the highest job level of Principal – whose salary is fixed for life. This relates to the published World Bank’s funding of a most laudable Education developmental project which identifies the following targets to be addressed:
60,744 Students
2,128 Teachers and Principals
600 TVET Students
140 Secondary and Post-Secondary Trainers
The subject areas indicated include:
a new curriculum for Grades 7-9
Training teachers on the new curriculum
Teaching students with different needs
Coaching and mentoring teachers
Instructional leadership and managerial programme for Principals
Surely the logical outcome of all these developmental exercises is to add value to the teaching profession. Who will argue reasonably against such an obvious conclusion? Meanwhile we breathlessly await:
news of the number, and range, of GOALS scored so far (in the first-half)
justification for a premature second-half
Is it unreasonable to seek advice about the proportion of the Budget/s expended so far?
Sincerely,
E.B. John
