Dear Editor,
I invite readers to take a hard look at the long (and naturally very costly) Ad which appeared in last Sunday’s print media inviting prospective students to enroll with the Bertram Collins College of the Public Service of Guyana. It is my considered view that if this is an example of the level of training and therefore the quality of service we can expect from graduates of the college, then we might as well scrap the idea of having such a college… ….and so save any further dip into our depleting treasury !
The Ad is steeped in antiquity; to even say so is to clothe it in undeserving literary garb; its anachronism depicts an image straight out of the ‘Dickenson era’ when messages and missives were delivered by hand and on horse-back from the senders as widely dispersed as those in the far-flung regions of Guyana and as envisaged by the author(s) of the Ad under review. Just imagine asking applicants of both genders (which is a must in our ‘liberated society’) to ‘buckle-up’, mount their steed and rush-off from Essequibo or Corentyne to hand deliver their applications into a letter box in some obscure building in South Georgetown!…..and furthermore, in this ‘choke & rob’ age, to risk being relieved of their horse when dismounting to drop off the applications!
Aren’t the authors of the Ad aware of the facilities of ICT? Don’t they know that traditional letter-writing has long given way to the e-mail? If the Public Service College will be operating in such a backward mode, do we really need it? It is fair to assume that such a college will promote the delivery of empathetic services for the public….where is there any evidence of ‘empathy’ on the part of the framers of the Ad?
One can go on to write the ‘proverbial book’ on the deficiencies and irritants of this Ad starting with the many opening questions some of which are downright silly and rather misleading; but I’d be happy to engage instead in a face to face chat if those concerned are so inclined.
Yours faithfully,
Nowrang Persaud
