Minister of Education lacks elementary and basic training in primary school statistics

Dear Editor,
I refer to a Stabroek News article captioned “Parliament committee flags a large number of Haitians…unaccounted for” that was published on June 14, 2018. I would like to specifically address the comments attributed to the Minister of Education, Ms. Nicolette Henry. She is quoted as saying, “Why emphasis was being placed on the number of Haitians not departing Guyana, since if an analysis of the figures from a percentage perspective was conducted, then it would show a 30% non-departure rate for persons from Bangladesh. “Why not the Bangladeshis?”
It is extremely disturbing that the Minister of Education lacks elementary and basic training in primary school statistics, which advises on the concept of absolute change vs. relative change. Absolute change refers to the difference between two indicators (2016 vs. 2017, arrivals vs. departure, in a particular period, and so on). Relative change expresses the absolute change as a percentage of the value of the indicators in the earlier period (absolute change between 2016 and 2017 as a percentage of the 2016 values).
If we are to use Ms. Henry’s logic that 30% of the Bangladeshis did not leave Guyana in 2017, then she must be professional enough to tell the full truth around this 30%, because it translates to 11 Bangladeshis. If one compares those 11 Bangladeshis who made themselves into illegal aliens in Guyana in 2017 to the other nationalities, the picture is very different from the image Ms. Henry is trying to paint.
Some 7,255 Cubans and 3,224 Haitians overstayed their time in Guyana in 2017, compared to these 11 Bangladeshis; so why is her focus on these 11 persons? Of the 12,585 illegal aliens from the records who are domiciled in Guyana in 2017, 83% of them, or 10,479 persons, are Cubans and Haitians. But Ms. Henry chooses to sensationalise the status of 11 Bangladeshis as she presumably plays to the gallery quite unintelligently.

Sincerely,
Sase Singh, M.Sc. –
Finance, ACCA