Before the madness begins

The Emancipation day holiday is now behind us. Our country can now be formally recorded as playing our part in paying homage to our cricket “legends” of the 70s and 80s.

The shift, locally, will undoubtedly now turn to what will be the “main agenda” for the rest of the year- the expected, upcoming general elections and the massive baggage that comes with exercising our franchise. As we get closer to the election date, it would seem to impartial observers that little else would matter and that “all hell will break loose”. We wish that we could be less pessimistic but that has been our sad experience over the years.

Strangely, even as the impending elections creep up upon us, there has been little mention by the contesting parties of a seemingly perennial bugbear -the arrangements for the elections themselves. We would like to be optimistic and surmise that this is an indication that both of our political parties are comfortable with those arrangements, but experience would warn us about undue optimism in this regard.

It would greatly reassure voters and be an expression of confidence in our electoral system if, whether through Parliament or some joint agreement and public statement, we get clarification on this matter. Almost every election held this century has been marred by not only pre-election quarrels but post-election disagreements leading to charges of electoral fraud, charges which have themselves been proven to be fraudulent. Please let us have some clarity on the matter and avoid the situation where
a Supervisor of Elections was hounded and harassed on unsubstantiated
claims.

Surely, no well-meaning seeker of political office would like to see a repetition of that unfortunate experience.

Getting the School Plants Ready

In the meantime, could we not seize the opportunity to address an age-old problem which continues to plague our education system? We refer here to the state of our educational institutions and ensuring they are in a state of readiness for the new school year. The July/August holidays provide the best opportunity for an overhaul of the school plants, and ensuring that the education wheels are well-oiled and ready to run come the new school year. The physical, human and environmental conditions of our educational institutions are therefore of paramount importance. Yet for some reason, each year, as soon as the new school year begins, there are loud complaints about the readiness of those institutions- even in some
cases experiencing delays in the commencement of classes.

This year, considering the damage and dislocation caused as a result of hurricane Beryl, we must expect further challenges. Are we making the extra efforts to prepare to face such eventualities?

If only we could transfer the intensity with which we engage in electioneering in ensuring, whether as administrator, teacher, parent, or government employee charged with preparing our educational institutions, into providing an atmosphere conducive to offering the best to our pupils and students, then at least we would be doing our civic, parental and societal duties.