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 »Media Monitor: TGIF, UNC! Why, despite PNM shortcomings, I mute Opposition politicians
TGIF. Tim Gopeesingh is farse. And outta place! He was on the radio the other day. And Rudy Indarsingh. And Roodal Moonilal. And Gerald Ramdeen. And Devant Maharaj. And, probably Wade Mark and Rodney Charles. And, of course, Kamla Persad-Bissessar. I have a queasy stomach so I have no idea …
Read More »STREET VIBES: Violence and videos; why MoE continues to struggle with unruly students
Recently, a series of videos have been making the rounds showing young people in school uniforms, many of them young ladies, engaged in fights. One fight is hardly out of our minds before another imprints itself on it, complementing—if that is the appropriate word—the repugnant images of girls kicking, punching, …
Read More »STREET VIBE: Despite Garcia’s woodsman boast; T&T’s school dropouts rate is real scandal
To say it’s sad to learn about the significant amount of students who over the years have “dropped out of school” is an understatement. To further learn that the primary reason behind the dropout rate is financial hardship—known in most circles simply as poverty—is depressing. When it becomes downright asinine …
Read More »MASTER’S VOICE: Save us from this arseness! Only dinosaurs would suggest shortened lunch breaks
Sherma Wilson, you don’t know me; we’ve never met. I think we traded messages briefly on Facebook a couple years ago, but I giving yuh wuk to do. Most of your listeners are from the lower-income, depressed communities in the country; try and get some of them into Parliament nah—and …
Read More »Super Fast Garcia strikes again; Live Wire schools Education Minister
No sex education for over-sexed students? Playing dress up with teachers? Half-hour lunch breaks for primary school children? Education Minister Anthony Garcia is on a roll. The bad news is, as always, he is heading downhill. Super Fast Garcia was at it again yesterday when, while pointing to a shift …
Read More »Pen in school, Minister Garcia? Best honours brother who fathered the writer in him
I couldn’t believe my ears. Had the radio just said that the Minister of Education was planning to start instruction in panmanship in the nation’s schools? Had someone finally seen the light after all these years, just as the Lloyd Best Institute of the West Indies was launching a week-long …
Read More »Is the Ministry of Education waiting for our own Columbine?
“We are still grappling with—and even clueless about—how to curb the high crime situation in the wider society. Any wonder the violent behaviour is mirrored in our schools? “And let us not stick our head in the sand because these pupils live in the communities and maybe even repeatedly interface …
Read More »Easy as 1+1= 2; an open letter to Sat Maharaj after Chalkdust’s advice in song
“Uncles, check allyuh bits and pieces and then see about pulling off this one for me. For all of us. Allyuh need to turn up the natural moxie allyuh have and teach them. Doh hold dem and wuk dem, Uncles, just teach dem. Teach them before they start thinking that sex in marriage is just some scriptural routine for procreation and that fulfilment …
Read More »STREET VIBE: Ag CoP, TTPS put hands in the air for Carnival; Lord, put a hand!
“… In the fight against a few semi-literate street criminals, the police have thrown their hands in the air as acknowledged by the Ag CoP… One wonders if the season has anything to do with his hands going up in the air. “But as we celebrate next week’s festivities, I guarantee …
Read More »Letter to Editor: Monthly contracts are turning MoE workers into modern-day slaves
“To date there are approximately 250 individuals whose three year contracts have come to an end and are now on monthly contracts. In fact this has been the situation for the last year and a half and relates to technical officers in various departments such as IT, Text books, Research, …
Read More »Keithos and Kamla’s game of drones; Best sharpens focus on games political people play
Politics, they say, is the art of the possible; politicians, however, are frequently impossible, particularly when, like the plus-size and minus-size costumed men and women who play themselves on the Big Stage at the Queen’s Park Savannah on Carnival Monday and Tuesday, they are acutely aware that the camera is …
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