Gadbsy-Dolly tells Indarsingh: I am not a fortune teller

EDUCATION Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly reminded Opposition MP Rudranath Indarsingh that she is not a fortune teller and cannot say whether there may be glitches in the future related to payment of tuition for scholarship recipients. But for now, she said, all issues have been resolved.

Indarsingh was speaking in Parliament on Friday afternoon and asked Gadsby-Dolly about an article in the TT Guardian published on Thursday, which said several open scholarship recipients had been barred from writing exams because of late payments.

It reported that seven students of the University of South Florida were facing this issue.

Asked for the total number of students debarred from writing exams, Gadsby-Dolly said as far as she knows, that number is zero.

Indarsingh then asked if the report was false, to which she replied, "The names of about six students were brought to me by the reporter. And upon investigations, we dealt with the matter.

"There were some issues with payment with regards to the consulate and that was sorted out. There was also the case of two students where there were issues with the actual transfer and that was also sorted out."

Indarsingh then asked, "Could you assure this house that this admin glitch you referred to will no longer occur in the future as it relates to the payment of tuition fees?"

Gadbsy-Dolly said, "I am not a fortune teller. Therefore, I cannot tell you what will happen in the future.

"We are putting all measures in place to ensure that our students are adequately taken care of and sometimes, the administrative issue is not on the side of the ministry but the consulate.

"On our end, we are doing what we have to do."