There are many parents around the country who are upset that their children – though very smart and scored very high marks have missed out on places in tertiary institutions and secondary schools.
According to Minister for Community Development, Andrew Mald, he was getting a lot of concerns expressed by the parents who believe the integrity of the selection process used by the Department of Education and Office of Higher Education was highly corrupted.
“The parents are alleging that officials involved in the selections were receiving bribes. I have no way of proving this but the concerns I am getting is from all over the country. I hope there is no truth in these allegations,” Mr Mald said.
He said there may be some truth in the allegations because some well to do parents may be offering incentives to the selectors to give places to their children because of the limited space in tertiary institutions as well as in secondary schools.
“The competition for the limited space is very high and the number of students getting good marks is getting better and better every year. Maybe the parents have reason to believe that there is bribery involved. We need to check this out,” Mr Mald said.
He said he was considering moving in the National Executive Council for an independent inquiry to be commissioned by the Government into the selection process to determine that its integrity is not compromised and that all students were offered places in existing schools, colleges and universities on merit.
“I will get my department to prepare a cabinet submission paper, as minister responsible for the development of young people, to establish an independent investigation into this matter. The parents want every child to be given a fair go, the Government expects all children to be given a fair go and this is must be done. It is important that students who are selected must feel that they earn it. This is important and the investigation will put all issues to rest,” Mr Mald said.
He said in many cases, students who are bright are pushed into technical or vocational schools where they do not want to do and as a result, many give up schooling.
Via Post Courier.
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