Press Releases

What is Parliament really? What is the work of a Member of Parliament and how does a person go about becoming one? How can a person go about getting Members of Parliament to raise a particular concern in the National Assembly? These were some of the questions asked of the Members of Parliament who visited Region Two on Friday, March 7, 2014 as part of the National Assembly’s school outreach programme.
The team, which comprised of Government MPs, Minister Ali Baksh, Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Dharamkumar Seeraj and Mr. Cornel Damon and A Partnership for National Unity member, Ms. Africo Selman along with former PPP MP Mr. Ishak Bashir and three parliamentary staff, met and interacted with students and teachers of the Taymouth Manor and CV Nunes Primary schools and the Abram Azuil, Cottonfield and Anna Regina Secondary Schools.
At each school the team was questioned exhaustively by the students on the workings of the National Assembly, the job of an MP and various topical issues currently engaging the attention of the House.  They were treated to the young people’s perspective on these issues. Though the students displayed very good knowledge of the theoretical aspects of the National Assembly they welcomed the initiative and the opportunity to interact with Members of Parliament.
They visiting team distributed educational dvds and fliers to the schools and also presented each school with a trophy in recognition of their achievements in academics and also as a form of encouragement to continue excelling. The words ““Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives - choice, not chance, determines your destiny,” were engraved on each trophy.
The Outreach to school is aimed at Bringing Parliament to life for young people and building trust and confidence between the parliamentary parties, between the people and the legislature, and more generally, in the institutions of governance.