The recent release of information from the Department of Public Service within the PNC-led coalition regime — that a more transparent process would be applied to evaluate and award scholarships — is a nudge towards fair governance which many Guyanese have been waiting for.
This is a positive move in a positive direction. The release may untangle the noose around the necks of those persons who have applied for Government scholarships but have been denied simply because they do not have anyone from the inside to advocate for them, or simply because they do not carry surnames like Roopnaraine, Henry, Ferguson and Halley. The applicants are probably breathing much better now, since they are aware that their applications were not evaluated fairly.
Added to this is that one has to be living under a rock not to know that the process of evaluating and awarding Government scholarships has been marred by, and mired in, corruption and nepotism. In case you have forgotten, the following is what has happened not too far back: Junior Education Minister Nicolette Henry was awarded $3.36 million to pursue a PhD in Public Health; Junior Public Infrastructure Minister Annette Ferguson was awarded $3.38 million; Education Minister Rupert Roopnaraine’s daughter, Alicia, was awarded $2.58 million; former Chief Education Officer Olato Sam was awarded $946,000; and Guyana Chronicle Board Director Tabitha Sarabo-Halley was awarded $3.4 million, according to Guyana Times and public information. One US dollar is worth approximately Gy$230.
Now, the reasoning behind awarding these scholarships, and scores of others, is that, in layman terms, the ministers will become more knowledgeable and skilled to perform better at their various assigned posts. I have not laughed loud for a while, but this comical declaration has sure tickled me, because this is one of the hundreds of ridiculous explanations this regime dishes out to the Guyanese public. I am all out for educational opportunities, since we all benefit from them. However, the President’s legerdemain in defense of awarding Government scholarships to his party loyalists is based on everything except sound judgement and sound leadership. May I ask if these ministers weren’t supposed to be well trained or skilled before they were given these Government positions? Or is it that these individuals campaigned so hard for the regime that they are entitled to Government’s this-and-that?
May I also add that the recipients of the Government scholarships under discussion are not of any decent repute and acumen? If they were, they would have said something, or at least showed some remorse to the tax-payers.
What is disturbing is that those persons who had applied, especially the disadvantaged and under-privileged, never had a chance to receive a scholarship when they thought they had one. There has to have been one applicant whose application matched or was superior to the application of Minister Roopnaraine’s daughter. I would love to have the opportunity to re-evaluate those applications in light of the thought that my experience with evaluating grant applications for the National Endowment for Humanities (NEH) as a Program Officer, as well as for the Virgin Islands Humanities Council, would bring some fairness to the table.
What is more disturbing is that those persons who were denied a scholarship have no outlet to voice their opinions. Nor do they have people advocating and championing for them to ensure justice. No one seems to care. But, every year, these persons live with the expectation that they may receive a scholarship. Sad, isn’t it? There ought to be an independent committee dedicated to ensuring that there is a practice of equity between the greedy and needy as far as awarding scholarships is concerned.
There is a larger problem here; that is, the awarding of Government scholarships drawn from tax-payers based on nepotism and the denial to others is tantamount to theft, which is a crime against the state. This is why the Government does not feel comfortable probing deeper into these cases of theft, because it may reveal more than what it wants the public to know. This is shallow governance.
We are now faced with two situations that demand two solutions. The first is that the recipients of these dubious Government scholarships should do the right thing and return their scholarships to the Government, or the Government should recall the scholarships that were awarded on a ‘greasing the palm’ syndrome. I do not see this happening.
The second is that the State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU) and the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) should at least investigate what transpired in handing out Government scholarships.
Doesn’t theft of Government scholarships demand a forensic auditing? If not, what sort of a message are these crime-fighting units sending to the public? I do hope it is not that this regime is immune from auditing — a national political infection Guyanese cannot stomach anymore. In the meanwhile, please do not applaud the release of information on transparency in awarding scholarship yet, since it may very well turn out to be one in the pantheon of promises this regime feeds the public daily. We have to apply the taxing wait-and-watch approach, which has now become a way of life in Guyana. ([email protected]).
