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Former Member

Guyana can learn from China’s embrace of education – Prime Minister says

By Rabindra Rooplall, August 25, 2016, http://guyanachronicle.com/guy...prime-minister-says/

CHINA, which was a poor, underdeveloped country is now the envy of the world as it has leapfrogged into being one of the fastest-growing economies with its embrace of education, says Prime Minister and First Vice-President, Moses Nagamootoo. The Prime Minister, who was accompanied by his wife Sita Nagamootoo, made these remarks on Wednesday evening at a reception hosted by the Chinese Ambassador to Guyana Zhang Limin at the Chinese Embassy.

The event was in honour of all the participants of the Chinese training programmes and scholarships, most notably media officials and journalists from across the state and private entities who recently benefited from a three-week training course hosted by the government in the People’s Republic of China.

Other sectors such as health and security also benefited from their officials being granted similar opportunities.

At the event, Director of the Government Information Agency, Beverly Alert, related the experience she gained along with 17 other media operatives who attended the three-week course in China. In expressing her gratitude, two frames of photographs of the team at different sites in China were presented to Ambassador Zhang Limin and Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo.

ICT SEMINAR IN CHINA
The Prime Minister disclosed that government recently approved a memorandum for Minister of Public Telecommunications Catherine Hughes and another batch of Guyanese to attend a seminar on ICT in China, which is leading the way into the digital future.

Minister Hughes will be exposed to technology that will be of benefit to Guyana, Prime Minister Nagamootoo said, adding that with determination and sacrifice any country can hit the high road of development and prosperity.

“We need to retrace our steps and re-invent our relationships. The Ambassador addressed the issue of the media giving coverage to Chinese companies in Guyana and I must say things are quite different now than they were in the past,” the First Vice-President noted.

He explained that it is expected that all Chinese companies conform to the laws of Guyana. “When you open the doors for investment you must make sure you bring in the pure and uncorrupted investors and it must not be seen as anti-Chinese or anti-Indian or anti-African, when criticisms are made of the way companies do business.”

FRIEND OF GUYANA
Underscoring that China is a friend of Guyana, the Prime Minister noted that all investors must have a fair return and be treated fairly. “They must have an open playing field as everyone else would enjoy and there should be no selective treatment of Chinese companies in the same way there should not be any focus of the media unfairly against Chinese companies. Deal with the facts and not sensationalism.” He said the press is not there to persecute, only to present verifiable and credible facts.

Meanwhile, Reginald Brotherson, Permanent Secretary, Department of the Public Service, Ministry of the Presidency, said all of the scholarships, whether short or long, have financial implications.

He said Guyana has benefited from several disciplines in training, including technology, communication, medicine and finance among others.

“We expect you the beneficiaries of the training would ensure that you utilize such training for the development of Guyana…” he noted.

Chinese Ambassador to Guyana, Zhang Limin, noted that although the two countries are separated by vast oceans, the first group of Chinese arrived in Guyana as early as 1863 and a monument was erected in Windsor Forest, West Coast Demerara, for the Chinese.

He explained that the Chinese people have been living in harmony with the local people and gradually integrated into the local society and became one of the six groups in Guyana.

Ambassador Limin said China has assisted Guyana in its development through grants and donations to the Government of Guyana, as well as through scholarships. He said the China/Guyana friendship has evolved while he has been working here for over three years. However, some sections of the media have been peddling untruths about some Chinese companies in Guyana.

“I know the reports of the media are trying to get the attention of the public so it’s natural to have some exaggeration, but I think journalists should have their professional ethics and these should be based on the facts and should not be fabricated,” the envoy declared.

He said the Chinese companies are willing to make more investments in Guyana and more contributions to the economic and social development of the country.

It is good when the media point out things that are done wrongly by Chinese companies, the Ambassador said, as all Chinese companies are required to abide by the legal requirements in Guyana.

MEDIA INPUTS
“If the media can point out the wrongdoings, then it can be helpful for the company to develop themselves. I think the reports should be objective and respect the facts… I hope that journalists and friends from the media can do more work to assist with [the] China/Guyana friendship,” the ambassador noted.

In 1972, Guyana was the first English-speaking Caribbean country to recognise the People’s Republic of China, and after more than 42 years of friendship and cooperation, the bilateral relationship between these two countries continues to flourish.

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Do they need to go to China to understand the impact of education?  Guyana puts out good students, but the PNC, in or out of power, create the acidic environment where they all just want to leave for safety and peace.

The destruction of Guyana's civic society over the past 50 years by this dastardly PNC cabal is what have Guyana in a constant state of a skills quagmire!!

FM
ba$eman posted:

Do they need to go to China to understand the impact of education?  Guyana puts out good students, but the PNC, in or out of power, create the acidic environment where they all just want to leave for safety and peace.

The destruction of Guyana's civic society over the past 50 years by this dastardly PNC cabal is what have Guyana in a constant state of a skills quagmire!!

More people fled Guyana under the PPP,they were not the best since slice bread,their governance is questionable,any way PNC and PPP are no good for Guyana.

Django
Django posted:

More people fled Guyana under the PPP,they were not the best since slice bread,their governance is questionable,any way PNC and PPP are no good for Guyana.

May be more to do with opportunity than anything else. People were more able to travel given the increased wealth in Guyana. Back in the 80's, one of the requirements of the US embassy was a decent bank account. Many people back then didn't have such and was denied visas. Secondly, the diaspora was fairly green and being able to provide various opportunities for their relatives from Guyana was limited. There was much more money floating around now than when I left in 1987. Just one example that the Coalition government has been partying since last year without creating one single penny.   My wife's niece just came back from Guyana and her uncle is so rich in Guyana, he has fingerprint entry system on his properties there. When I left in 1987, the CID Headquarters didn't even have sufficient fingerprint ink.

No matter how good anyone is, most will still move elsewhere to be better. See it all the time with those moving trucks on US highways and whether it was the PNC, PPP or the Coalition, most places in the world are still better off than Guyana. With the PPP government, more Guyanese had more opportunities and means to travel, emigrate.

FM
ksazma posted:
Django posted:

More people fled Guyana under the PPP,they were not the best since slice bread,their governance is questionable,any way PNC and PPP are no good for Guyana.

May be more to do with opportunity than anything else. People were more able to travel given the increased wealth in Guyana. Back in the 80's, one of the requirements of the US embassy was a decent bank account. Many people back then didn't have such and was denied visas. Secondly, the diaspora was fairly green and being able to provide various opportunities for their relatives from Guyana was limited. There was much more money floating around now than when I left in 1987. Just one example that the Coalition government has been partying since last year without creating one single penny.   My wife's niece just came back from Guyana and her uncle is so rich in Guyana, he has fingerprint entry system on his properties there. When I left in 1987, the CID Headquarters didn't even have sufficient fingerprint ink.

No matter how good anyone is, most will still move elsewhere to be better. See it all the time with those moving trucks on US highways and whether it was the PNC, PPP or the Coalition, most places in the world are still better off than Guyana. With the PPP government, more Guyanese had more opportunities and means to travel, emigrate.

Arright Kaz,credit given to the PPP also to be noted it all started when the Government were forced to move in a different direction after the death of Forbes Burnham.

Django
Django posted:
ksazma posted:
Django posted:

More people fled Guyana under the PPP,they were not the best since slice bread,their governance is questionable,any way PNC and PPP are no good for Guyana.

May be more to do with opportunity than anything else. People were more able to travel given the increased wealth in Guyana. Back in the 80's, one of the requirements of the US embassy was a decent bank account. Many people back then didn't have such and was denied visas. Secondly, the diaspora was fairly green and being able to provide various opportunities for their relatives from Guyana was limited. There was much more money floating around now than when I left in 1987. Just one example that the Coalition government has been partying since last year without creating one single penny.   My wife's niece just came back from Guyana and her uncle is so rich in Guyana, he has fingerprint entry system on his properties there. When I left in 1987, the CID Headquarters didn't even have sufficient fingerprint ink.

No matter how good anyone is, most will still move elsewhere to be better. See it all the time with those moving trucks on US highways and whether it was the PNC, PPP or the Coalition, most places in the world are still better off than Guyana. With the PPP government, more Guyanese had more opportunities and means to travel, emigrate.

Arright Kaz,credit given to the PPP also to be noted it all started when the Government were forced to move in a different direction after the death of Forbes Burnham.

Django, you have to realize that during the PNC years a lot of educated Guyanese left for NA. As they gained citizenship and sponsored their relatives, more and more people migrated for a better life. It was not due to the PPP, but a chance to reunite whole families. I did it and know of large numbers who did it. Please stop blaming the PPP for emigration. It all started in the late 60's. PNC had just started to squeeze the coolies.

FM
skeldon_man posted:

Please stop blaming the PPP for emigration. It all started in the late 60's. PNC had just started to squeeze the coolies.

Emigration existed since in the early 1900's, which is not new to Guyana.

FM
Django posted:

Arright Kaz,credit given to the PPP also to be noted it all started when the Government were forced to move in a different direction after the death of Forbes Burnham.

No doubt.

FM

The real reason for the progress in China is not the education system. Most of the highly educated ones have studied in the West. China's progress came off the back of millions of workers who worked at very low wages making fast amounts of cheap low quality goods for greedy Western  companies. Speak to any Chinese and most will tell you that they prefer to buy Western made goods, since those are of far better quality than can be produced in China.

Mr.T
Mr.T posted:

The real reason for the progress in China is not the education system. Most of the highly educated ones have studied in the West. China's progress came off the back of millions of workers who worked at very low wages making fast amounts of cheap low quality goods for greedy Western  companies. Speak to any Chinese and most will tell you that they prefer to buy Western made goods, since those are of far better quality than can be produced in China.

Aren't all Apple products made in China? But I agree that China's wealth is coming from mostly American Corporations.

FM

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