Dear Editor,
I can tell you with 100% certainty that the British Chevening Scholarship does not work this way, since I won one in 1999. The tuition aspect is paid directly to the university. We received a monthly stipend – paid into a UK bank account – once in the country. The plane tickets were paid for directly by the British Council and if my memory serves me right, we were given 680 pounds at the British Council office as soon as we landed at Gatwick. I use we because three of us travelled together. Therefore, Mr. Harmon must be referring to a Government of Guyana scholarship. The SN article mentioned the Minister’s daughter was a top performer at a private school. That is wonderful and commendable, but it raises an important question. What criteria were used to offer this scholarship to the Minister’s daughter relative to other top performers who are from the public schools and other private schools? When will we see all the awardees on a central website going back a few decades?
Editor, as someone who has studied Guyana’s political economy, I can safely say the country has moved from ethno-party paramountcy of Burnham to ethno-family-friend elected oligarchy under Jagdeo/Ramotar and now to ethno-family-friend elected oligarchy under Granger.
Yours faithfully,
Tarron Khemraj
