Black Immigrant Daily News

There will be no shifting of blame by the Minister of Education.

At a time when some are asking if the Chief Education Officer was being used as a scape goat of sorts to address irate and annoyed parents and guardians when the debacle surrounding the Computer Science pre-test unfolded this week, Minister Kay McConney, who was in Cabinet when the issue was brought to her attention, says that was not the case and she assures that the powers that be and officials know what is true. She said a decision was made and the Chief was tasked on Tuesday to address the nation.

Today, October 8, taking full responsibility for this “most serious matter”, during a press conference, she said:

“The Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training (METVT), we accept our responsibility for the mistakes that have been made in the execution of the pre-test, which because it also had survey questions, changed it from being a pre-test to a different kind of data collection instrument. This was even after our ministry had objected to those survey questions, the pretest questions we had agreed to, but some of the survey questions were not agreed to by this ministry. But I know that this ministry must take responsibility for not having checked back well enough to make sure that what we asked to be removed was actually removed and because I am the minister with responsibility for this ministry, the buck stops with me. And I therefore, accept responsibility on behalf of the ministry that I lead for this unfortunate situation.”

Issuing yet another apology, the minister added her own to the mix.

“Not withstanding the apologies that have already been offered by our technical team, our administrative team and by our international development partner – the Inter-American Development Bank, despite those apologies, I want to again sincerely offer my apologies to the students, to the parents, to the teachers, to the principals, and to all who have been impacted negatively.”

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) and Jonathan Grant High battled to an exciting 3-3 in their Digicel/ISSA Manning Cup Zone D top-of-the-table clash on Saturday.

Only three games were played Saturday as Tarrant High whipped Dunoon Park Technical 5-0 and Norman Manley High beat Spanish Town 3-0.

Omar Reid opened the scoring for STATHS in the 31st minute with his ninth goal of the season before Leon Brown doubled the advantage in minute 47.

Substitute Shamar Armstrong pulled one back for Jonathan Grant in the 60th minute. Andre Salmon restored the two-goal cushion for STATHS by netting in minute 76.

But Jonathan Grant rallied late on with two goals in four minutes courtesy of Rasharkin Williams and Donrick Richards in the 81st and 85th minutes, respectively, for a share of the points.

Both teams moved closer to the second round as STATHS inched to 18 points and Jonathan Grant are up to 17 points.

Tarrant High, with their second win of the season, climbed from the bottom of the table and onto six points. They are three points ahead of Spanish Town High who are on three points.

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

Looks like these Trinis won’t ever give up on preventing us from benefitting from our oil industry, just as they’ve done for 100 years without being harassed by others. They, of course, used their petrodollars to build up their economy to tower over the rest of us in Caricom – where they replaced the departed colonial power and shipped manufactured goods to flood our markets!! And then smarmily inform us that they “weren’t nobody’s cash machine” when help was needed!! Right after our Local Content Law was passed, Trinidad’s Massy – which is flooding our country with businesses, from security to supermarket – threatened to take us to the CCJ for violating the Treaty of Chaguaramas. Luckily, good sense – meaning their bulging pocketbooks – prevailed, and they backed off!!

Now comes the director of the “Trinidad and Tobago Coalition of Services Industries” (TTCSI) with the same complaint – but more crudely threatening that if the Government doesn’t do a backflip on the Local Content Secretariat’s decision on Trini business Ramps Logistics, they’ll take their business to Suriname!! Can you believe this arrogance?? The matter of whether Ramps satisfies the qualification on Guyanese participation in ownership is now before the Courts, do the Trinis want us to tell the Courts how to make their decisions?? Maybe that’s how it’s done in Trinidad, but not here!! More recently, the GRA pointed out that Ramps played fast and loose with the tax laws; will the Government be blamed for that also??!!

Recently, Pres Ali and PM Rowley held bilateral discussions to straighten out this issue. Have the Trinis no confidence in their PM?? Point is, the Trinis are a bunch of hypocrites on Local Content regulation. They’ve had one for decades, but simply didn’t LABEL it as such!! Stories of Guyanese manufacturers being denied entry to TT markets are legion. In 2004, the Trinis finally made their policy on local content explicit under the heading: “LOCAL CONTENT & LOCAL PARTICIPATION POLICY & FRAMEWORK FOR THE REPUBLIC OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO ENERGY SECTOR LOCAL CONTENT & LOCAL PARTICIPATION POLICY & FRAMEWORK FOR THE REPUBLIC OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO ENERGY SECTOR OCTOBER 7TH, 2004”. It’s on the web!!

Under the heading “LOCAL CONTENT AND PARTICIPATION POLICY STATEMENT”, the Government declared it’d be “giving preference, firstly, to locally owned, controlled and financed enterprises, then to those that demonstrate a clear culture, commitment and capacity for maximising local value-added, participation and capability development, consistent with the country’s aspirations and vision.” What the heck is that, if not “Local Content Legislation”?? Is the fig leaf of not calling it such intended to fool us “simplistic” Guyanese?

Look, these people better get real. They should be told, “Good riddance to bad rubbish”. Good luck to the Surinamese!!

…between Saudis and US

Did you notice, dear reader, the announcement by OPEC – read, the Saudis – that they’ll be cutting oil production by 2 million barrels per day, starting Nov 1st?? This, of course, is being justified as shoring up lagging prices due to “overproduction”. But it shouldn’t escape notice that the cut comes on the heels of Biden’s July trip to Saudi Arabia to meet MBS in the face of widespread criticism over human rights’ violations. And that the cuts gonna benefit Russia, which the US is trying to eject from Ukraine.

But moreso, that the cuts come just one week before the Congressional midterm elections, and won’t redound well for the Democrats!! So, what’s the US to do?? Remove its protective shield over Saudi Arabia via its weapons programme?? But that risks the Chinese stepping in to fill the void!! Wouldn’t want THAT, would we?? Will the Europeans step in?? While not as dangerous as the Chinese, that removes the US leverage over Saudis even further!!

It ain’t easy being a superpower!!

…with smugglers

As if smuggling cocaine weren’t enough of a headache, news has come of an ambulance busted with smuggled frozen chicken. Your Eyewitness wonders about all those ambulances and their wailing sirens.

Gotta deliver the frozen chicken before it thaws out!!

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

Ce samedi soir, à 19 heures, le Grand Carbet du parc Aimé-Césaire accueillera une soirée de partage à l’initiative du jeune Ishmaël Samuel, avec l’association Arc-en-ciel d’amour, présidée par Alfred Varasse. Aujourd’hui âgé de 18 ans, le « bébé miracle » venu de la Dominique, pour lequel la population martiniquaise s’était mobilisée, veut remercier tous ceux qui lui ont tendu la main et permis de vivre et devenir le jeune homme en pleine santé qu’il est aujourd’hui.

France-Antilles Martinique

372 mots – 07.10.2022

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

With some members of society calling for heads to roll in light of the recent data collection breach in some five secondary schools in Barbados, the Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training (METVT) Kay McConney does not believe that she needs to walk away from her post.

“I never anticipated. I never thought to resign,” she said.

The Minister said that it was a case where the Ministry was too trusting.

She explained:

“What often happens is that partners enter into agreements to implement projects all times. There are times when there’s trust between partners that if one partner says x should be done and the partner has responsibility for doing x we expect that they would follow through.

“What happened here? What I believe, not what I believe, what I know is that an error was made where the removal of questions was not done, and you would have seen that in the press release done by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and our officers have also said that they ought to have been more diligent in checking to make sure that what they trusted was real.”

And though confessing that as minister she does not see all tests or surveys that go into the nation’s schools, she stood her ground on not handing in her resignation at this time.

“These matters are normally handled at a technical level. I do not see forms or surveys or questionnaires that go out for every single project that exists within our school system. It’s just impossible. There are so many, and so I never thought that it would have been necessary for me to resign. I thought it would have been necessary for us as a ministry to review the situation and to put what is necessary to be put in place in order for us to move forward and continue to do better.”

The METVT/IDB Code Caribbean Instrument, previously termed the Computer Science pre-test, was administered to some 733 minors in Barbados before the plug was pulled after public outcry this week on Tuesday, October 4, 2022. The students who answered the two-hour long survey attended the St George Secondary School, Princess Margaret Memorial School, Graydon Sealy Secondary School, Queen’s College and Coleridge & Parry Secondary School.

NewsAmericasNow.com