Tag Archives: Selwyn R. Cudjoe

corruption, Education, General T&T, People's Partnership, Politics

The Mis-Education of Tim Gopeesingh

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 20, 2011

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeDr. Tim Gopeesingh, Minister of Education, is a gynecologist by training. He is not an educator. At the very least, his response to my inquiry proves his mis-understanding about how a Minister of Education functions. Anyone who has been following this controversy (See “Probe SEA Results” in the July 13 issue of and my subsequent letter to the Minister of Education, July 17 Trinidad Mirror) knows that I only sought to bring to the Minister’s attention the statistical improbability of 14 students from one class placing within the first one hundred students in the recent SEA examinations.
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General T&T, Passed on, PNM

NAEAP’s Condolences for Rose Janneire

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July 16, 2011

IN TRIBUTE

Rose Janneire
Rose Janneire

The National Association for the Empowerment of African People (NAEAP) joins the nation in recognizing the many services Ms. Janneire rendered to the nation. Ms. Janneire joined NAEAP in 2000, two years after it was founded, and worked arduously with the organization to transform the landscape of African people in this country. She served as a trustee in the organization and for many years controlled the finances of the organization.
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corruption, Education, General T&T, Politics

Letter to Minister of Education on SEA Results

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July 14, 2011

Dr. Tim Gopesingh, Minister
Ministry of Education,
Port of Spain
Trinidad

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeDear Dr. Gopeesingh:

I am sure that you were pleased as I was to learn that 14 students from one class in the Chaguanas Government School placed among the top one hundred students in the recent SEA Examination. Initially, my instinct was to accept the result and to applaud the exemplary teaching that takes place in that school; that is, until allegations of cheating were brought to my attention. Although I wanted to disregard this unfortunate conclusion, my desire for fairness led me to contact a statistician from William Patterson University in New Jersey, USA, and a mathematician from Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, to determine the statistical possibility of such a result occurring.
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Education, General T&T

Probe SEA Results

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 13, 2011

Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe“How come one school could get 14 passes in the top one hundred places of the SEA,” asked the irate caller on the phone, and drew her own conclusion: “Dey had to tief.”

After she calmed down she explained her anxiety. She was referring to the fact that 14 students from Chaguanas Government School placed among the top one hundred students at the recent SEA examination. To her mind, that was impossible.
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General T&T, International, Politics

For the Love of Jack

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 06, 2011

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI have had mixed feelings about Jack’s fall from grace. I have not been able to garner the venom that some have displayed toward him nor the delight others have taken in his departure from FIFA. I am yet to see how Jack’s actions have so maligned Trinidad and Tobago that I have to hang my head in shame when I am in the outside world. Few Americans hang their heads in shame in light of Madoff’s shenanigans.
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General T&T, Race and Identity

Emergency: Young Black Men in Danger

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
June 27, 2011

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeIn March of last year the General Assembly of the United Nations declared 2011 “The International Year for People of African Descent.” It called for the “strengthening national actions and regional and international cooperation for the benefit of people of African descent in relation to their full enjoyment of economic, cultural, social, civic and political rights, their participation and integration in all political, economic, social and cultural aspects of society, and the promotion of a greater knowledge of and respect for their diverse heritage and culture.”
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General T&T, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, Racism Watch, THA, Tobago

The Allness of the Universe

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
June 21, 2011

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeA month ago the People’s Partnership (PP) celebrated its first anniversary. Its members party fuh so. Such was their glee that Kamla even found time to stick it to Orville London and the THA. Like all-conquering heroes and monarchs of everything they surveyed, not even the lowly CEPEP was beyond the grasps of their craven ways. They wanted it all. PP was not only of T&T; it envisaged itself as the all-embracing spirit of the society.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, Law, Politics, Schools, Violence

Spinning Top in Mud

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
June 15, 2011

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeTrinidad and Tobago ought to pause a moment; catch its collective breath, and then ask: where are we going as a nation. Anyone who viewed the video about Niyoka Folkes, a student of Barataria North Secondary School or saw the pummeling she received or the photographs of her bruises that appeared on the newspapers, cannot help but wonder at the sad turn of events at our public schools. That even an adult jumped in to add her blows seems to a dispassionate observer that our society might be going mad.
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Africa, General T&T, India, People's Partnership, Politics

Truth and Consequences

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
June 07, 2011

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeWhen I asked whether our honorable Prime Minister has a drinking problem I did not mean to be uncharitable or to be “sexist.” Given Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s difficulties I thought it responsible to raise an issue that has gained a life of its own. I still contend that the enabling role Strauss-Kahn’s friends played in supporting his illness may be analogous to the deafening public silence that surrounds the PM’s purported drinking problem. Many of Strauss-Khan’s close friends knew he had a problem. None was bold enough to speak about it publicly.
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General T&T, International

Does She or Doesn’t She?

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
May 25, 2011

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeAlmost invariably, nations, parties and individuals possess different narratives of themselves some of which they present to the world; others that they keep quietly to protect themselves from the world and others. Some of these narratives are wrapped in perfumed sweetness while others are left to petrify, hidden from the public gaze, until their stink pollutes the nation and the self.
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