Saturday, January 28 2012

EDUCATION Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh yesterday said his ministry is considering establishing a committee to assess and monitor private schools. He disclosed that he received news of the incident at Blackman’s Private Shool, Saddle Road, Maraval at midday on Thursday from his communications department and not from senior ministry officials. On Monday a teacher at the school allegedly pushed the head of an eight-year-old boy into a toilet bowl and then flushed the toilet. The matter is being investigated by police.

Gopeesingh said private schools are registered by the ministry and have to satisfy criteria in order to be registered. There are 76 private primary schools and 18 private secondary schools.

He said these schools come under the Education Act and are to be supervised by the ministry’s school supervisors. Questioned about the ministry keeping abreast of incidents at private schools he said, “there has been no system for assessing and monitoring those private schools in terms of their conduct and methods of reporting back to the ministry. It has been chaos.”

Gopeesingh said from a management perspective the ministry has been working “overtime” to strengthen organisational and operational issues in education but this has been “a nightmare.”

He said the ministry planned to establish a team to assess private schools on a continuous basis for monitoring and evaluation. How the team will be established and its composition has to be worked out. Gopeesingh said the matter could be taken to Cabinet or the ministry could try and establish the team.

Asked if there were sufficient school supervisors in the system to monitor schools, he told Newsday that when he took office in 2010 he met a ministry that was “organisationally weak” with a depleted organisational structure. He blamed the present situation on the slow pace with which the Service Commissions filled vacancies. After a vacancy is filled by the Public Service Commission, he said the worker could be sent to another ministry to work. Gopeesingh said holding persons accountable was also difficult. He said the Teaching Service Commission was responsible for the appointment, promotion and transfer of the 16,000 teachers in the system and the Education Ministry had no input.

“Look at the issue at the Tunapuna Hindu School, six weeks passed since the issue was sent to them. There is no end in sight.” Sita Gajadharsingh-Nanga, the principal of the school has been recommended for transfer by the board of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha which has criticised her performance. Newsday received information that the shortlist of persons to be interviewed by the TSC for vacant posts of principal at primary schools was sent by the ministry on January 8.

Asked about the delay being caused by the ministry, Gopeesingh said, “that is an excuse, they had the shortlist sooner. When the TSC meets one or two times a month and 12 to 24 times for the year how can they deal with 16,000 teachers?”