A hint of tension between the two ministers in the Ministry of Education reared its head yesterday at the second instalment of the National Consultation on Education, as Minister of State in the Ministry of Education Dr Lovell Francis referred to himself as “the stepchild’ of the ministry.
The comment came as Francis mounted the podium at the Southern Academy of the Performing Arts (SAPA) where the consultation was taking place before an audience of educators, students, politicians and other stakeholders.
“It is me, the stepchild of the ministry once again. I was given a short speaking period on Monday. Today, I am actually down for an address. I am not sure what that means but once again I will try not to be lengthy,” he began his address which preceded the feature address by the substantive minister Anthony Garcia.
When Garcia took to the stage, the conflict seemed to be compounded when in his introduction, he referred to Lovell as “junior minister.”
Lovell remained stoic as Garcia immediately corrected himself saying: “Sorry, in the Ministry of Education. I always make the point that Dr Lovell is not a junior minister. He is a full fledged minister in the Ministry of Education. The only difference is, I have to account to the Cabinet.
An unsmiling Lovell looked up as Garcia turned to him seated at the head table in the company of vice-president of the National Parent Teachers Association Raffiena Ali Boodoosingh, permanent secretary Gillian Macintyre, TTUTA’s president Devanand Sinanan and uttered: “Dr Lovell, I recognise you. I welcome you and I listen very attentively and I congratulate you on your presentation.”
In his address, Lovell pointed out that he was a passionate and fervent believer in education. He suggested that in T&T “we need to stop saying education is free. It is not free. It is tremendously expensive. It is State supported. We said free for too long,” he added.
Lovell said the education system was troubled but not in shambles. Saying “we took an education system that was not meant for us and made it work for us,” he added “the one critical mistake made was that we did not make it ours.”