We knew it was too good to be true, neat chainsaw cut wood all the same size and the children looking fresh and neatly dressed. The dogs in the AFC strikes again, wickedness is their forte. They did the same in Berbice when they claimed that the govt closed down a school even though there were sufficient kids to justify it being opened.
Students of Kato Primary made to pose for photo by AFC councilor - Regional Education Officer says students gathered wood less than half mile away
Written by Chriseana Ramrekha Sunday, 09 June 2013 22:21 STUDENTS of Kato Primary School in Region 8 (Potaro/Siparuni) were made to pose for the pictures which accompanied a story published in the Kaieteur News June 5, 2013 and headlined “Hinterland Primary School students trek miles with logs for hot meals.”
This was revealed by Regional Education Officer of Region 8, Ms. Marcia Paddy-Andrews in a letter addressed to Deputy Chief Education Officer (Administration) and presented to the media by Education Minister, Priya Manickchand on Friday last. Ms. Paddy-Andrews explained in the letter that on Wednesday April 17, 2013 the kitchen staff noted that they were out of firewood and asked the teacher in charge at the time, Andrea Pereira to organise the children to aid in the gathering of firewood from a nearby clump of bushes. According to her, these children took part in this activity prior to the beginning of the school session for the day while being supervised by the teacher and the wood was located less than half mile away as opposed to the far distance indicated in the Kaieteur News article. Andrews stated that during this time, a statutory meeting of the Regional Democratic Council was being held in Sub-District 1 Kato Village, and Regional Councillor of the Alliance For Change (AFC) party, Mr. Nieem Gafoor, who was the person who provided the information to the Kaieteur News for the afore mentioned article, attended this meeting and asked the children to pose for the pictures. She further stated that on May 16, 2013, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Ganga Persaud visited the region and convened a meeting between the regional administration, programme managers and RDC Councillors where this issue was ventilated. “It should also be noted that the Kato School Feeding Programme is one of the most efficiently managed programme in the region. There are designated areas for the preparation of meals and for dining. The school would have invested their $500.000 grant for the sustainability project and which has since doubled in profits and is in excess of one million dollars,” Andrews said. According to her, the department also acquired and distributed footwear donated by Mr. Shari Khan to all schools in the Region, inclusive of the Kato Primary School, which houses 133 children and not 300 as was stated in the article. Meanwhile, Education Minister, Priya Manickchand reiterated the Ministry’s condemnation of the use of children to fetch fire wood to be used as energy to cook meals under the school feeding programme, which is funded by the Government of Guyana through the Ministry of Education. Ms. Manickchand had said that a visit will be done to this school before June 14, in an effort to ensure that not only Kato Primary School, but all other schools engaged in the feeding programme adhere to the rules and regulations which govern the community based School Feeding Programme. According to her, providing meals is high on agenda of the government, and they believe that their love for children must manifest itself in tangible support, hence the reason why 1.2B is being spent in 2013 on the school feeding programme which will benefit more than 64,000 children. The Kato Primary School is one of 92 schools in Regions 1, 7, 8, and 9 benefitting from the community-based school feeding programme.
