“Words are the clothes thoughts wear” — Samuel Beckett, Irish writer. The Budget debate and its fallout sent me scurrying to recall Beckett’s writings. He is the author of “Waiting for Godot”—a play the late James Lee Wah introduced to me in the early 70s. The state of play on …
Read More »Dear Editor: Effective inclement weather policies will address inconsistent national responses and save lives
“[…] If it was unsafe for schools to stay open, why were the non-essential businesses allowed to stay open with the workers exposed to the same risk? “[…] We must consider whether these weather alerts are reaching the population—especially in rural areas—and are they being understood? […]” The following Letter …
Read More »Noble: The Battle for our Children; Covid only exacerbated T&T’s education shortcomings
Like a passing cloud, our discussions about the SEA performance of our children have come and dissipated. While we anticipated that there would be some learning loss due to the effects of Covid on our schools and our children’s education, the results are astounding. In every tier of the results, …
Read More »Noble: Sad movies always make me cry—getting a handle on corruption in T&T
We all have soundtracks that mark our lives, some inexplicably. As a pre-teen, I heard a haunting song that I have never forgotten and which appears to be appropriate in today’s Trinidad and Tobago. ‘Sad movies always make me cry’ was one of the first songs on Billboard. It told of …
Read More »Noble: ‘Bringing children back into school is not a simple case of opening the doors’
Education is an essential foundation of a society. Yet, the pandemic has laid bare the reality of our school system. Thanks to the Ministry of Health’s media conferences, we have been able to know the death rate and the capacity of our hospitals. But there are no comparable statistics available …
Read More »Write Start: Allen-Agostini calls on young essay writers to develop writing muscle
The following is the full text of the brief address delivered by Lisa Allen-Agostini, chief judge for the 11-15 panel in the Write Start National Essay Writing Contest, at the prize-giving ceremony, held at the bMobile box at the Queen’s Park Oval on Thursday 16 December 2021. Also in attendance …
Read More »‘My story came to life!’ Wired868 Write Start winner, Shara Balkaran, blown away by Brian Lara
There was an unexpected touch of royalty at the inaugural Wired868 Write Start national essay writing prize-giving ceremony yesterday evening at the bmobile suite at the Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair. Parvati Girls’ Hindu College student Shara Balkan won the 11-15 category with a fictional story about how her …
Read More »MoE: We won’t put children’s education at risk; physical school reopens for ALL forms 4-6 students
Minister of Education Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly announced today that all students from forms four to six ‘and their equivalents’ must resume physical school on Monday 25 October, regardless of vaccination status. Online schooling will be discontinued for such forms from Monday. However, forms one to three will remain online for …
Read More »MoE, TTUTA clash over school for vaccinated students; Gov’t wants more, union wants less
Ministry of Education: ‘[…] After analysis of the physical attendance data for Forms 4-6 students, the Government has proposed the reopening of physical school for all vaccinated secondary students of ages 12-18…’ Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association: ‘[…] The promotion of academic inequity by the MOE through its current …
Read More »$26,000 at stake in Wired868’s new Write Start contest for secondary school students
Got a teenager at home? Think (s)he has a novel or a short story nestling at the back of his/her head just waiting to get out? And what of teenagers in general? Agree that they have lost a lot of the skills that adolescents in your time had, including critical …
Read More »Ten deaths, 558 infections; SEA postponed, St Vincent and Bermuda promise vaccines to T&T
The Ministry of Health today confirmed an additional 10 deaths related to Covid-19 and 558 new cases, based on samples taken between 14 and 19 May 2021. At present, there are 6,996 active cases with 412 persons hospitalised There have been 7,403 infections and 172 deaths already this month, while …
Read More »Media Monitor: Where have all the scholars gone? Should the Fourth Estate know the answer?
Two things happened this week to set me off on the path on which I am about to embark. The first, not in chronological order, was the passing of the Coalition Advocating for Inclusion of Sexual Orientation (Caiso) head Colin Robinson, which occurred in the US on Thursday morning. Colin …
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