DISRESPECT TO SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS
I find it rather sinister that the results of the CAPE scholarship have been sitting at the Ministry of Education for upwards of two weeks, and this government has seen it fit to release the results in the manner of a press release more akin to a media leak. While the lack of celebration and anticipation are not surprising given the unkind and ungodly slashing of scholarships, still one would have expected the Ministry of Education to make a joyful noise.
The complete lack of promptness in releasing the scholarship results is indicative of the extent to which this government is out of touch with the population. Do they not realize that parents and students needed to know as soon as possible whether the student was a scholarship recipient so as to finalize tertiary education plans, and choose universities accordingly?
Students especially needed to be put out of their misery for the most part given that many deserving candidates would now no longer be eligible under the new scholarship scheme- a particular blemish on this government, if you ask me.
Teachers and principals would have also been on high alert as they too would be having to assess the impact of the new and notorious scholarship scheme coupled with the astounding blunders of pandemic policies in education. Some schools would have been training their students rather rigorously for this very moment. But they too had to sit it out, waiting for any news that might be thrown to them.
I am probably not the only one who laments this loss of a scholarship tradition in Trinidad and Tobago. Gone is that time when excitement would fill the air, when schools and excited media personnel would be in heady anticipation for grand announcements.
Though the manner of the announcement is pitiable, the timing is equally unfortunate. Imagine the results coming our way flanked by a major cabinet reshuffle on the one hand, and an unsettling confession by the Prime Minister himself that he was the high-ranking official who met with officials who subsequently recalled the merit list of the Police Service Commission. People cannot be blamed for seeing the timing as a red herring in what could only be a time of deep reckoning for this government.
I wish to personally congratulate all open and additional scholarship winners as well as President’s Medal winners. Let me also congratulate all those who are deserving of scholarships but became victims of an ill-thought-out scholarship policy. And finally, to every student who managed to survive pandemic education, get good grades or not-so-good grades, I say this is a time like no other. Stay strong and may you reach the heights of your potential by never giving up.
Dinesh Rambally MP
Chaguanas West