Ramchand: Put university in South

INDEPENDENT SENATOR, Professor Ken Ramchand, described Government’s plan to build the proposed University of Trinidad and Tobago in Wallerfield as out of touch with the goal of making TT a developed nation by 2020.

Speaking during the Budget debate in the Senate on Wednesday, Ramchand suggested that the university be constructed instead on land next to the San Fernando Technical Institute instead of a shopping mall which is reportedly earmarked for those lands. The senator said that in constructing the university there, it would ensure that the institution develops “a close relationship with agriculture and industry.” Ramchand questioned whether TT would be getting value for money from the education provisions in the Budget and warned the Government against “flinging money at social problems.” He criticised the Education Ministry for seemingly planning the secondary school curriculum “in a piecemeal manner” and warned the Ministry that there is “something wrong with reliance on foreign consultants.”

Former Education Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar recently alleged that her successor Hazel Manning was favourably considering a proposal from one such consultant that would only see the first 1,000 children who sit this year’s Secondary Assessment Examination (SEA) while the remainder would be “distributed by lottery.” lanning Minister Dr Keith Rowley dismissed Persad-Bissessar’s claims and accused the Siparia MP of trying to stir up trouble where none existed. Manning herself has not denied Persad-Bissesar’s allegations. n response to one of Ramchand’s questions, Manning informed the Senate that construction will begin next year on a new secondary school in Icacos.