Dear Editor,
It is difficult to believe the SN Editorial is merely naively writing in ignorance. Too much information has been supplied publicly and directly to the newspaper for this to be the case. The SN editorial, a day after a long letter from me which the papers itself called “detailed,” boldly misrepresents again claiming that dorm children are “under the direct care of the Ministry of Education.” I’m not sure who they are trying to influence but I have more belief in our people’s discerning capacity and intellectual prowess to believe these misrepresentations will take root.
For whoever is interested in the truth, I repeat, the maintenance of all schools, dorms, teachers’ quarters, hiring of staff like dorm parents, cooks and security, supervision of students and residents in dorms etc in the Regions are the direct responsibility of the Regional Administration which is governed by the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development. Dorm children therefore are under the direct care of the Regional Administration which is managed and governed by the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development.
I repeat again also it is the law that mandates that we engage here in Guyana in decentralization of Government which sees schools and dorms in regions being managed directly by the Regional Democratic Councils and Local Government Ministry. The Constitution, our Supreme Law, the Local Government Act and Fiscal Management and Accountability Act and consequential orders and directives issued thereunder all clearly demonstrate said decentralization and how it works.
For even more information each Region is designated a budget agency as is evidenced by the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development being asked and answering questions in relation to education in the regions at every single budget debate when the National Assembly is seeking to appropriate monies to run the country. In the absence of Cabinet direction which was being sought after the receipt of the Deen and Partners report, which dorm would be repaired, which one wasn’t finished and why, which dorm has enough dorm parents, which one doesn’t get adequate or nutritious food, which one doesn’t deal with discipline properly etc are all questions that have arisen and many have been covered by this newspaper in annual budgets. They were/are all asked of the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development. If the roof in a dorm is leaking and the Ministry of Education by itself utilizes money in its budget to fix it, the Ministry of Education would be engaged in misappropriation, a criminal offence and a breach of our fiscal rules that will invite audit queries. That roof would have to be fixed by the Region where money was directly appropriated by the National Assembly for that purpose. That Region is managed directly by the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development.
Looking forward to more opportunities to engage with your readers when tomorrow again the SN will write as though they did not read this or as though they never covered the budget debates or reported on the Regions’ responsibilities towards dorms and schools that reside in those regions.
Sincerely,
Priya Manickchand