President of the group Youths for Social Justice (YSJ) Ife Smith is calling on Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to give food cards to local students studying abroad, saying many cannot afford nutritious meals. Speaking at a press conference at the Movement for Social Justice’s (MSJ) San Fernando headquarters on Sunday, Smith said the food cards could be implemented through the issuance of visa or master cards to the students.
Saying a proposal was given to Finance Minister Larry Howai before he presented the budget on Monday, Smith said the YSJ, the youth arm of the MSJ, had been trying to assist needy pupils.
“In early 2014, the YSJ undertook a food drive to assist the less fortunate students studying at the Cave Hill (Barbados) and Mona (Jamaica) campuses of the University of the West Indies. Some of our students studying abroad cannot find the money to purchase nutritious food,” Smith lamented. She added: “The impetus for this initiative was the various stories of some students in desperate need for assistance to get them through the semester. Some of them were unable to buy food. The cost of living in both countries is very high.”
She called on Government to heed the cries of the poor students. “The YSJ believes that young people involved in positive behaviour should be encouraged and those stricken with poverty should also matter,” she said. She added that the YSJ was willing to discuss its proposal with Howai and Persad-Bissessar.
Guyana Student Deported
Smith also called on Persad-Bissessar to speak out against the recent deportation of a Guyanese student who was expected to begin her studies at the Hugh Wooding Law School. She said the Chaguaramas Convention made certain provisions for Caricom nationals and on that basis the student should not have been deported.
Saying that the PM is accountable to the nation, Smith said her organisation condemned the immigration officers who deported the student. Students, she added, should be encouraged to get engaged in productive initiatives and the MSJ would take up the matter.
In an online article on the Web site Splash, the former president of the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) at Hugh Wooding, Ronald Daniels, was quoted as saying that the Guyanese student in question was deported before she could start her study. Daniels said he went to pick up the student at Piarco International Airport but was told she was being deported because she did not have a letter of acceptance from the law school and had travelled on a one-way ticket.
Daniel said the Guyanese authorities had not sent a list of accepted students and although an appeal was made to change the reason for entry, the immigration officers refused to co-operate.
Guyana student deported
Smith also called on Persad-Bissessar to speak out against the recent deportation of a Guyanese student who was expected to begin her studies at the Hugh Wooding Law School. She said the Chaguaramas Convention made certain provisions for Caricom nationals and on that basis the student should not have been deported.
Saying that the PM is accountable to the nation, Smith said her organisation condemned the immigration officers who deported the student. Students, she added, should be encouraged to get engaged in productive initiatives and the MSJ would take up the matter.
In an online article on the Web site Splash, the former president of the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) at Hugh Wooding, Ronald Daniels, was quoted as saying that the Guyanese student in question was deported before she could start her study.
Daniels said he went to pick up the student at Piarco International Airport but was told she was being deported because she did not have a letter of acceptance from the law school and had travelled on a one-way ticket.
Daniel said the Guyanese authorities had not sent a list of accepted students and although an appeal was made to change the reason for entry, the immigration officers refused to co-operate.