Seaga
Leonardo Blair, Staff Reporter
PEOPLE'S NATIONAL Party Members of Parliament remained silent yesterday when Opposition Leader Edward Seaga cried, "shame!" while taking the Government to task for cutting the allocation to the Education Ministry in the 2004/05 Budget.
This year's allocation to education was some 8.92 per cent, more than one per cent less than last year's allocation of 10.2 per cent.
While citing supporting statistics to back up his claim, Mr. Seaga said the sparse attention being paid to a weakening of the island's human resource capabilities was a worrying trend.
FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED
"The education system in Jamaica is fundamentally flawed. It is substantially underfinanced in comparison to the majority of CARICOM partners," said Mr. Seaga
"The allocation this year is particularly astonishing since a landmark resolution was agreed last year by government to increase the budgetary allocation by one per cent per annum for five years to attain the 15 per cent target," lamented Mr. Seaga who said allocations to education should total at least 15 per cent of the budget.
Citing from a UNESCO report that Jamaica ranks third lowest on ratings in vital areas of the education system, Mr. Seaga said, "education has to be prioritised to avoid the human resource calamity that is already mushrooming throughout the social and economic sectors of Jamaica with dire consequences."
