Karim gives PNM administration F grade on leadership and performance

Tertiary Education Minister Fazal Karim gave the former PNM administration an "F" grade Wednesday for its track record on leadership and performance.

Speaking in the Senate during the budget debate, Karim cited the GATE programme as an example of the failure of the last administration.

"While GATE expanded very little was done from its inception to ensure proper management and implementation.

"GATE’s implementation was based on the PNM administration’s view that once billions were spent then somehow the goals would be achieved," the minister said.

He added that for the PNM, "Spending great sums was an achievement in itself - nothing else was required." He said after spending $6.2 billion on GATE in 2009 there is little to show for it.

Karim quoted from the latest report on Global Competitiveness (2010-2011) noting that it painted "a very dismal picture of our achievements, with Trinidad and Tobago ranked at 138 out of 139 countries surveyed.

"By any standard that means a grade “F” – FAIL. So much for their vaunted Vision 2020 and their developed country status," he said.

Karim pointed out how GATE has failed to carry out its mandate despite the billions in expenditure. He outlined six areas of failure:

1. No attempt to match payments with the manpower needs of the country
2. No link to a national research agenda, with less than 1 per cent of GDP being spent on research and development
3. A significant imbalance due to the fact that 90 per cent of GATE payments were disbursed in respect of academic subjects. Tech/Voc subjects accounted for less than 10 per cent of GATE payments
4. GATE money was wasted due to lack of mechanisms to track delinquent students who failed to complete courses or who failed them repeatedly
5. No significant attempts to ensure that graduates of the GATE programme fulfilled their contractual obligations to work in the local private or public sectors after graduation.
6. Since its inception in 2004 and only until very recently less than adequate attention has been paid to ensure that all programmes paid for by GATE met international quality standards

Karim suggested that such a state of affairs could not exist in any other country and declared, "It is no wonder that fellow CARICOM neighbours have had a view of us – that we have plenty 'dollars and no cents'."

He suggested that decisions in the past were driven by "political expediency, public relations goals, a complete lack of data".

Karim added, "My best guess, based on all the information that I have seen, is that less than 60 cents on every GATE dollar spent added real value to the country’s human resource capacity, our global competitiveness, or the achievement of the very mandate of the programme."

Having pointed out the negatives, the minister spoke of the way forward for GATE, making it clear that the program will be enhanced and secured.

"Compliance, auditing and monitoring mechanisms will be strengthened to eliminate waste and improve oversight and management," he said.

"In addition it will be expanded to cover technical and vocational training in the context of a more balanced approached to the development of the country human resource capital," the minister added.

Karim told legislators that in order to accelerate the country's entrepreneurial thrust, GATE will subsidise private sector training geared towards small business and entrepreneurial activities.

There will be four elements of rebranding the ministry:

• A renewed focus on research, monitoring and evaluation
• Significant emphasis on fostering a culture of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• The Science and Technology thrust will be strengthened within the Ministry
• The ICT capability will be greatly enhanced consistent with the new approach towards data driven policy formulation to encourage data management and sharing among agencies and institutions

"The Ministry will move from being seen as the one that implements OJT, MuST and Retraining to a policy setting, forward thinking and aligned to our future developmental needs," the minister said.

He said all current programs within the Ministry will be re-positioned within key training providers to ensure efficiency, accountability and standardization and rationalization of programmes.

"After having seven PNM Ministers in eight years, we will finally get it right Madam Vice President," he promised.

The minister also spoke about the University of Trinidad & Tobago (UTT) where the Manning administration spent billions without effectively training students in science and technology.

Karim said other tertiary institutions have declined under the PNM and pledged to do something about it.

"We will build on the good institutions we have, fix what needs to be fixed but not marginalise or decimate them if they had a good reputation," he said.

The minister also spoke of teacher training for the new world of technology. He said starting Monday his ministry will begin training 4,500 Form 1 teachers.

"Just imagine in 5 years when 100,000 of our your people will be computer literate learning programming, automation, web development, network connectivity, e-waste management and the list can go on and on," Karim said.