00:00And it seems it's one of the strongest mafias in the world because it is
00:07seemingly impenetrable and so many people are at its advantage because of
00:13this perpetuation of this textbook situation. The chairman of the
00:17Joint Select Committee on Social Services and Public Administration
00:20Independent Senator Dr. Paul Richards expressing his frustration about one of
00:25the issues regarding Trinidad and Tobago's school system that was
00:29explored at length during the committee's public hearing on Friday.
00:33Chairman Richards was responding to statements made on the matter by Martin
00:38Lumpkin, the president of the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association
00:42tutor. But there's no governing body as such that will look at those papers. When
00:49it comes to textbooks, the Ministry of Education is the entity that is supposed
00:54to recommend textbooks to schools and we all are aware of what takes place in
01:00schools, the drawback of that. Because in recommending textbooks, one can try to
01:09get an unfair influence over those in the ministry or other bodies who would
01:16recommend textbooks. The committee's chairman said the issue affects a
01:20particular group of parents and the children in Trinidad and Tobago. But I
01:25mean, it's part of who benefits from the education sector disproportionately and
01:30disproportionately affects families and students in the low socio-economic areas
01:37and it's one of the things I can't understand, how parents buy a book, they
01:42have three children and one would imagine the book adds two pages and they
01:48have to buy a new book next semester because they changed the book on a new
01:50semester for a new year for another child and it's just ridiculous. At one
01:55point during this statement on the matter by the president of tutor, Dr.
01:59Richards referred to a point made earlier in the proceedings by one of the
02:02members of the committee, Opposition Senator David Naked. Our members have
02:07found over the years that a variety of textbooks assist in, so even though it's
02:13not in the formal book list, they can recommend these as supplementary areas
02:19to assist as well too. That in itself has its drawback as well too.
02:24Well, what you're describing, you're being very kind and diplomatic about it.
02:27Remember, Naked raised the point earlier on, who's benefiting? That is part of the
02:32so-called textbook mafia in the country that the Minister of Finance spoke to,
02:37putting mechanisms to break I think two years ago in the budget, which we are yet
02:41to see. Chairman Richards was apparently referring to the Finance Minister's 2024
02:46budget statement in which the Minister announced that the government then
02:50intended to consult with all stakeholders in the education sector,
02:54standardize textbooks as far as is practicable and eliminate the practice
03:00of unnecessary new textbooks arriving on the curriculum every year.
03:05Jule Brown, TV6 News.
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