SXMElections.com

PHILIPSBURG--Minster of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Rita Bourne-Gumbs warned on Monday that "further action" will be taken against the board of National Institute for Professional Advancement (NIPA) if an "ultimatum" given is not met in a meeting set for tomorrow, Wednesday.

The minister did not divulge the details of the ultimatum to which she referred. She told Members of Parliament (MPs) during an urgent public plenary session of Parliament on Monday that she did not want to give certain details before meeting with the board.

She painted a grim picture of the situation at NIPA in her response to several questions and concerns MPs raised in the meeting. She said the situation at NIPA was "not pleasing to the ministry."

Among her concerns is the fact that NIPA is not providing quality education. "It is blatant enough to see that quality is not being offered at NIPA," the minister said.

Several warning letters, including from the Education Inspectorate and from the minister, have been sent to the board for not providing quality education to students. Bourne-Gumbs said authorities would "force" the NIPA board to comply to provide quality education. She will be meeting with the NIPA board on Wednesday and is hoping for a positive outcome.

She said too that not all courses offered at NIPA had been completed. The ministry already has asked the board how it would be possible to complete these courses. Additionally, new registration was held and a new group of students started without the necessary staffers in place. The ministry's last resort will be to pull Government's subsidy from the institute.

The minister said too that the board only responded to her correspondences and enquiries sometimes. She alluded to one particular correspondence to the NIPA board about which she received an acknowledgement receipt only after the issue had appeared in the media.

The situation at NIPA is "not welcoming" particularly for students. Complaints from students and staff have been ongoing since January and the situation "has not gotten better. It has gotten worse," the minister said, noting that the ministry had done its part in terms of monitoring the situation.

She took issue with the way the articles of incorporation for boards were set up, noting that it limited how much influence Government had on these boards. "This is where we went wrong from the start," she noted.

Meetings have been held with the various school boards responsible for appointing members to the NIPA board. The minister believes the dynamics of the institute can be changed from the top level.

She also believes that current board members are unable to give their full commitment to help change the situation at NIPA. As a result, "a letter of retraction" of support for persons on the board who cannot give 100 per cent was requested. Based on this, one member appointed by the ministry tendered their resignation. The ministry has since appointed another person to the board.

The minister said it was not the ministry's intention to "send home" board members. "The intention of the ministry is the better the situation at NIPA."

The ministry, the minister added, cannot just shut down the Institute. It has to build a case. "This is the goal of the ministry, but ultimately the final execution of the work lies with the board," she said.

She minister said she was unable to answer several questions from MPs as these concerned the board. She advised MPs to call in the NIPA board for a Parliament meeting if they wanted information on the board's direct operational level.

Bourne-Gumbs promised to give MPs an update on the outcome of her meeting with the board.

Monday's meeting was requested by the National Alliance (NA) fraction in Parliament. The meeting ended prematurely as the minister was about to answer questions in the second round, after a roll call showed that there was no quorum for the meeting to continue.