UNC senator criticises education, sport ministries

OPPOSITION Senator Anil Roberts has criticised the Education Ministry for its poor performance in the upkeep and repair of schools as the new term opens.

Speaking during a virtual media conference on September 5, Roberts said, “Our children have gone back to school and you have seen across the board the dilapidated state of our nation’s schools, especially those in the at-risk areas, especially those in rural communities. Why is it so terrible?

“Education is life, education is competition, and our children must be given a fair opportunity to achieve. Any time you put children at a disadvantage, it is painful and unfortunate.”

He said there were videos coming out of schools across Trinidad which showed the systemic incompetence of the PNM in maintaining schools.

“There are no systemic management systems in place to maintain and prevent, no proactive measures or preventative steps to ensure that our nation’s schools just need touching up during the summer vacation. All are left to collapse, endangering the health and safety of our children.”

Roberts said Trinidad and Tobago’s lack of medals in the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics was purposeful on the part of the government.

“It was a well-designed PNM failure: lack of investment, lack of understanding, lack of care, putting a minister who didn’t want to be the Minister of Sport, not understanding and respecting athletes, not understanding and respecting coaching science and preparation.
"You cannot fail so dramatically by mistake.

“Teaching and coaching go hand in hand. To teach children, teachers require the best facilities. Teachers normally make up for gaps in parenting, discipline, punctuality, self-esteem, ability and concentration. The teachers can’t perform, and...students who are already at-risk and behind because they don’t have the advantages of middle-class families with proper doctors, medicine, music, stimulation and laptops – they are being left behind by this callous government.

“Children in at-risk areas should be proud to go to school with A/C, the best facilities, the best sporting facilities, music rooms, computer labs, the best teachers ready to help them overcome any deficits at home and in their community.”

He accused the government of reducing the number of meals provided through the school feeding programme.

He criticised the Education Minister for saying there was no money to fix schools.

Roberts said health-care workers and the health-care system were under pressure.

“Millions of dollars in NIS (National Insurance System) contributions have not been paid," he claimed. "There is sufferation in our hospitals. Citizens cannot see doctors for hours. There is a lack of medicine.

“There are murders happening on our hospitals at a frequent level never seen before. The PNM is employing gangsters. Hospitals are not where you go to get lifesaving treatment, they are where you go to get shot. That cannot be acceptable.”

Roberts was referring to the murder of Jamaal Watts at the St James Medical Complex on September 4 and the murders of Jayden Reyes, Peter Williams and Kevin King at the Port of Spain General Hospital on June 2. All were killed by gunmen.

Roberts criticised the Prime Minister for flying out for medical treatment rather than using the same health-care system as the population.