Dear Editor,
The sharing out of the $10,000 school vouchers is not a bad initiative by the government but there are some flaws which should be addressed by the Ministry of Education. The earlier school vouchers which were distributed were just worth $1,500. That process was hassle free and the vouchers could have been used to purchase school items at many stores.
The distribution of these new $10,000 vouchers is a very long, tedious process for families. There are numbers for the various grades that each have different long lines. For example, if a parent has three children in three different grades in the same school that parent will have to uplift three different numbers for each grade and join three different lines. That’s virtually impossible to achieve in one day.
Why is it the school couldn’t record the names of the children on one list and let the parent collect his/her vouchers in one line? Some parents I know spent over eight hours in different lines and couldn’t get all their vouchers, and the sad part is they only have one day to get all their vouchers; they are not given the following day.
Then we have working parents who cannot leave their jobs to uplift their vouchers because of their job schedules.
Why is it a more effective and efficient system was not in place to facilitate every family just as when they were giving out the $1,500 vouchers under the previous system? I haven’t seen much of a difference compared to the previous system; it’s only that a couple more thousands have been added to the voucher.
Then we have many parents who can’t read, old parents, pregnant mothers, etc, all of whom have to stand waiting in the sun or sitting on some school bench as if they are begging for a handout. I wonder if our ministers in government would like to wait over five hours in a line for a $10,000 voucher. How many of them stepping out of their air-conditioned Prados can even stand one hour in the sun to make a long boring speech before this money is given out. Everything with our present administration is about the politics and how much good they have done for our people. Any politics without a proper administration and modern effective policies is unhealthy for our nation.
Editor, the long voucher lines don’t end at the school. This $10,000 voucher can only be cashed at Western Union outlets, and most Western Union branches only have about three cashiers working while the smaller ones only have one cashier. I saw lines at Western Union with hundreds of people; some folks lined up as early as 5am to cash their vouchers to be told at 9am that Western Union doesn’t have money.
It’s ridiculous that our people have become like puppets on a string just for $10,000. Many have fainted in the lines and even gone hungry the whole day and can’t get their money.
Why is it that the ‘Because we care voucher’ can only be cashed at Western Union? Why can’t it be cashed at any bank? Western Union doesn’t have enough money to give out to hundreds of families so why did our erudite government use Western Union?
Why does this voucher have an expiry date of November 30, 2014?
With proper security why couldn’t they give out cash to parents?
To govern a nation we need vision and proper management skills which we don’t seem to have. In all our ministries and offices we are greeted by long unending lines, but it doesn’t seem to bother our ministers in government or even our President. It doesn’t bother them because they are not the ones standing in the lines for hours and days. Real leadership is putting our people before ourselves. If this new voucher initiative is called ‘Because we care’ then our present administration should care about the long lines our people have to join to uplift the voucher at the schools and Western Union. If we really care then it is my sincere hope that these issues will be addressed by the Ministry of Education.
Illiteracy among adults is another growing phenomenon in Guyana that really slowed up the sharing out of the vouchers, since hundreds of parents can’t sign their names. What we need is a more comprehensive plan to distribute the vouchers in the coming years if the arrangement is still in place.
Yours faithfully,
Rev Gideon Cecil
