Investigations are underway, by the Rights of the Child Commission (RCC), into the disqualification of a six-year-old Region Six pupil from the Children’s Mashramani Calypso Competition.
According to RCC’s Chief Executive officer, Andre Gonsalves, the commission has been in touch with the Allied Arts Unit (AAU) of the Ministry of Education and is currently awaiting some key information from the relevant authorities there.
After being allowed to contest several rounds of the competition, 6-year-old Ezeka Minty was disqualified in what has been seen as censorship and a clear violation of the child’s rights under the United Nations Rights of the Child Convention. The disqualification of the child has also been seen as reflecting the government’s intolerance of anything remotely critical even from a child.