General Secretary (GS) of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said more than 20,000 Afro-Guyanese who did not have any scholarship or skill training programme in 2020 are now trained in various programmes.
According to Jagdeo through the GOAL, GROW, BIT and WIIN programmes, over 20,000 Afro-Guyanese of the 50,000 people who are being trained…More than 20,000 Afro-Guyanese who did not have any scholarship or training programme in 2020 now, under this government, were trained.
The Party’s GS failed to provide the breakdown for the claim he made or state how the information was gathered. For instance, were race a contributing factor in selecting persons for scholarship or skill training, and if so what is the breakdown for the others races. Further how is the various demographics per the population size reflected in others to show whether the equitable and equal opportunities for these training and skills programmes across the various demographics.
During his weekly press conference at Freedom House, the GS sought to debunk allegations Afro-Guyanese are not benefitting from the government’s programmes.
The figure, even if true, does not nullify the preponderance of evidence the PPP government discriminates against the African Guyanese community. These are evident in the refusal to engage the trade union in collective bargaining in the public and teaching service, namely, the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU), the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GB&GWU), the awarding of government contracts, disbursement of cash grants, among others.