Celebrating Failure: The PNM Government’s Distorted Triumph in Education

Recent celebrations by the Minister of Education that this country surpassed the Caribbean performance with a 42 percent pass rate in Mathematics at CSEC is a shameful example of how to lie with statistics. The population is not interested in “spin” and public relations gimmicks. Based on the Ministers own data,58 percent (substantially more than half) of the students writing mathematics in 2024 have failed. Far from being something to celebrate, this grave statistic should be a major cause for concern as it reflects the overall failure of the government. It is long established that education is the passport to prosperity. Yet under this PNM administration, students and future generations are being deprived of opportunity for growth and development. Instead of confronting this crisis in our educational system and doing something about it, this PNM government is busy trying to convince the population that this is something to celebrate! Mathematics is one of the most basic requirements for further education and for development of critical life skills. The Minister glossed over the fact that this is one of the worse performances of the Ministry of Education in recent history. The declining pass rates are not merely numbers; they are symptomatic of a boarder crisis in our education system. The lack of adequate teachers, poor infrastructure in our schools, increasing violence in schools, reduction in the social support resulting in severe hardships for parents to be able to afford the books, uniforms and transport to send children to school, all contribute to the declining performance. The unexplained delays in the conduct of critical repairs over the vacation and even the delay in spraying for mosquitoes clearly demonstrate the absolute lack of concern by the Ministers and the PNM administration as a whole for the children and teachers of our Nation. This abandonment of our nation’s children is unforgivable. Children being forced to leave school without functional literacy, without being able to pass basic core courses are condemned to a life of difficulty and the vicious cycle of poverty and unemployment. I repeat that the Minister boasting about this is obscene and disgusting.

After nine years in office, having inherited an education system in transition with world recognized achievements, this PNM government has compromised the future of our country.

Moreover, the Ministry of Education has not yet provided the statistics for other subjects, which I suspect would further highlight their complete incompetence with the education sector. What the Minister did concede is that the data revealed a sharp decline in the overall pass rate from 58.57% last year to a ghastly 45% this year. The withholding of this data suggests an unwillingness to address the full extent of the problem and avoiding accountability. Taxpayers are paying two Ministers in the Ministry of Education and yet are getting the worse results possible for our children. I challenge both Ministers and their Boss, the Prime Minister as well, to provide full results in all subjects over the last nine years. Let the population judge for themselves. I challenge the Ministers to provide a breakdown of performance by school. I challenge the government to tell this country exactly what assessment or study has been done in the last 9 years, to treat with this undermining of our education system and what actions have been undertaken, because it is clear that whatever has done has failed completely.

Our students deserve better. The government should be aggressively working to address these issues, not patting itself on the back for substandard results. They need to start prioritizing the well-being of our children. Perhaps more alarming is the obvious conclusion that if these PNM Ministers are as ecstatic as they are with these abysmal results, they will see no reason to take corrective action. In the meantime, while Ministers engage in PR stunts, our children’s future and that of our country is being sabotaged. I urge parents and all citizens not to allow this PNM administration to continue this wanton disregard for our nation. As we have seen elections have consequences and in this case, our children are being forced to pay the horrific price with their future.

Mr. Davendranath Tancoo, MP Oropouche West