The Ministry of Education confirmed that all schools—at primary, secondary and ECCE level—will be closed on Friday 12 October 2018. This is to facilitate the 2018 National Convention of Teachers, which will be held from 9am to 3pm on that day. Harrilal Seecharan, chief education officer of the Ministry of …
Read More »Dear Editor: What will T&T gov’t do about 600-plus unemployed doctors?
“It is difficult to imagine that from the Minister of Health, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and the Chief Medical Officer, none can say what the expected future needs of Trinidad and Tobago’s medical profession will be in the next five years.” The following Letter to the …
Read More »SSFL Forum: Schools’ league grapples with issues of registration, player development and TTFA relations
Academic requirements for school footballers, wider powers for the credential committee, an electronic database for players, small-sided games for Under-14s and a re-evaluation of the registration period and deadline for players to participate in external competitions. There were no shortage of talking points as the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) …
Read More »“Pure evilness and unjustness!” TTHTI faculty rages as students asked to pay GATE shortfall to graduate
“How do young people not get disenchanted with education and the stupid systems that are put in place in Trinidad and Tobago when over 50 students are told that they cannot graduate because the Institute that they belong to did not receive GATE funding for them? “And, to add insult …
Read More »Dear Editor: Small correction, Minister Garcia, school fights are not no big thing
“Minister [Anthony] Garcia, are the ‘shattered bones [in the] right elbow’ of Shareefa Ali and Chris Khan’s 9-year-old son–injuries sustained, as reported in the 3 February, 2017 Trinidad Guardian, as a result of a fight initiated by a bully and which required surgery—a ‘part of growing up’? “Is being ‘hit …
Read More »STREET VIBES: Backward Garcia must go if we are to go forward
The old adage “If yuh cyah beat them, join them” can be heard loud and clear behind the latest statement by that dinosaur OJT who has somehow found himself at the helm of education in Trinidad and Tobago. Instead of seeking to find creative ways of treating with the Ministry …
Read More »Daly Bread: The self-esteem crisis; why our “passes factory” schools are not helping
For many years I have described the low self-esteem plaguing many of our youngsters and its relationship to violent crime and anti-social behaviour. The now widespread fighting in schools is a related phenomenon. Much of my personal knowledge of the self-esteem crisis comes directly from dialogue with some youngsters to …
Read More »STREET VIBES: Hahaha, hee-haw, hee-haw but PNM’s donkey logic is no laughing matter
Prank or otherwise, there is nothing funny about rape. We are a nation which has seen its fair share of rapes over the years, many of the victims in their early teens. Despite the large number, however, I can remember not one single occasion when a rape was thought to …
Read More »Fraud squad moves on Fyzabad forgery; grills staff, players and SSFL officials
Fyzabad Secondary principal Troy Jebodhsingh, vice-principal Suresh Roopnarine and physical education teacher Nigel Lakhan were grilled by the Fraud Squad today, as the Police stepped up investigations into the improper registration of footballers, Dez Jones and Maurice Dick. Jones, the Fyzabad football team captain, and Dick were registered as lower …
Read More »Weather for leather! Live Wire examines ODPM disaster, a UNC land grab and Fatima’s, eh, “drama classes”
There is nothing like a downpour to offer fresh perspective in life. As flood waters rose in central and south Trinidad, a woman discovered that a four foot reptile, in a cheeky bid for power, had swapped the swamp for her abode and surreptitiously laid claim to her premises. But …
Read More »Fyzabad principal submits report to MoE; Williams: SSFL and MoE must look at player transfers
Fyzabad Secondary principal Troy Jebodhsingh has submitted a preliminary report to the Ministry of Education as the investigation continues into the fraudulent registration of two footballers, Dez Jones and Maurice Dick, into the lower sixth form at the school. Jones and Dick had two and one O’ Level passes respectively; …
Read More »Source: Fyzabad principal was deceived too; school stops all football programmes after scandal
Fyzabad Secondary have withdrawn from all Secondary School Football League (SSFL) competitions in 2017 as the fall-out from their suspension for fraudulently registering two players into lower sixth form continues. Yesterday, the SSFL executive suspended the “Fyzo Tigers” from the Premier Division after it was discovered that the school had …
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