3 Hrs Ago
In this file photo, form six students of Saint Mary s College, CIC, Port of Spain, line up to enter a classroom. - Photo by Vidya Thurab
SENIOR secondary school students who sit the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) cannot expect to receive scholarships “either at all or in any specific quantity or awarded on any specific criteria.”
This is the position of the Cabinet in its response to a pre-action protocol letter sent to attorneys representing the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, which has threatened to take the Cabinet to court over Government’s scholarship and bursary programme.
The new system reduced the number of national scholarships and introduced bursaries.
Maha Sabha wants Cabinet to revert to former policy on scholarships
CABINET’s policy which saw a reduction of national scholarships and bursaries is final.
Attorneys for the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha were told this by the secretary to the Cabinet, in a response for disclosure relating to the new scholarship scheme.
However, the religious body which initiated legal action over the award of scholarships and bursaries, are prepared to give the Cabinet extra time to respond if they revert to the previous policy of awarding 400 scholarships.
On March 23, attorneys for the Maha Sabha wrote to Cabinet secretary Cheryl Hem-Lee complaining of the cut in the number of national scholarships and the implementation of a new bursary system.
Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi
ATTORNEY GENERAL Faris Al-Rawi has denied hiring his wife’s law firm to file a formal response on behalf of the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) to the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha which recently sent a pre-action protocol letter to the Cabinet.
Maha Sabha attorneys wrote to the Cabinet complaining of the cut in the number of national scholarships and the implementation of a new bursary system.
In a response letter dated April 1, the law firm Al-Rawi, Haynes-Soo Hon and Company wrote Maha Sabha attorneys advising them not to file any legal proceedings against the Cabinet as they were in the process of addressing the Maha Sabha s pre-action protocol letter.