Good news out of Georgetown from the education sector last week. Guyana has secured 16 of the 28 regional awards through top performances by its students in the recent Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examinations. The success was so convincing that Guyanese students will be taking home all of the five awards in the sciences and business, and two awards in the technical and vocational fields, the Ministry of Education said.
Among the award winners are Anuradha Dev of Queen's College – the overall top student in the Caribbean as well as the leader of the pack in science. Mariesa Jagnanan - also of Queen's College – is taking away the award as the best business student. Nathan Benjamin Indarsingh, yet another Queen's College student, won the award for the Best Short Story in the English A examination.
The good news is Guyanese students continue to stay the course in the region. Their performance has been consistent over the years, having taken the award as the Top Performer five times in six years. They have also retained the Best Science award for six consecutive years.
Many of us here in the GTA and in the wider diaspora have contributed to this success through our support of Guyana's education system from abroad. We are happy to commend the students for their hard work. As well, we share the excitement expressed by Guyana Education Minister, Shaik Baksh. As he has said, these achievements speak to an education sector that is working to ensure that Guyana maintains its rightful place in the Caribbean. Additionally, it is also evidence that the sector has been making commendable advances over the years.
Our congratulations go out to the students, their teachers, and all those who have made possible this stellar achievement.

 

In the end it may turn out to be that the PNM government of Trinidad and Tobago, during the years 2003 to 2007, established a public fund with taxpayers' money and used it as a private hand-out for scholarships to selected friends, party-supporters, and foreigners.
Worse, it may be too that this fund was utilised to promote one ethnic group above another. If this is so, then it is truly a noxious mixture of fraud, the abuse of power and public monies, and racism. Nationals at home and for us living abroad expect those involved to be held criminally liable.
On October 17, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar revealed this massive and corrupt (TT) $45 million-plus scholarship scheme used by the former PNM regime. According to Persad-Bissessar, every rule was broken and every guideline ignored. What has turned up is the PNM used public money reserved for needy students as their personal affirmative action slush fund. In one case investigated by the Equal Opportunities Commission, it was found that former Prime Minister Patrick Manning endorsed the application of a Grenadian national for a secret $28,000 scholarship. He sent a letter on November 14, 2004, to former Culture and Community Development Minister Joan Yuille-Williams: "Hon Joan Yuille-Williams. Please handle this quietly." Among other recipients of funding were several high-profile PNM supporters.
What has come out so far is that out of every 100 bursaries awarded by the Culture and Community Development Ministry, it has been estimated seven went to Indo-Trinidadians, with 93 going to Afro-Trinidadians and other minority ethnic groups.
So flagrant was this 'selection process' that the EOC has concluded that there is a prima facie case of discrimination against East Indians by the PNM during these years.
These allegations are upsetting to say the least. The private use of public money with the circumvention of proper guidelines and criteria is abhorrent. We look forward to the present government of Trinidad and Tobago following this to the full extent of the law.