Continue being vigilant, CASE

Friday, January 21, 2011

Dear Editor,

In light of the stringent contract procurement guidelines that are being enforced in our government schools and institutions and the number of them falling short of these guidelines, it must be highlighted that the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE) was recently commended by the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) for obtaining a 100 per cent compliance ratings for their procurement practices.

In its report, the OCG lauds the institution for the distinct efforts its procurement officers and support staff exercised so that they could have obtained a full compliance assessment score for the four consecutive quarters ending June 2010.

Quarterly Contract Awards Report grading scheme ranges from level 1 to level 4; with level 4 being the lowest grade of below 60 per cent and level 1 the highest; ranging between 96 and 100 per cent of compliance. This esteemed and noble college did not merely pass but got a full 100 per cent!

The Ministry of Education was also pleased and heaped similarly high praises on the institution in the matter. It applauded its officers for "buying into the vision which allows government institutions to stand up to scrutiny, be transparent and act with unquestionable integrity".

But who carried this in their news reports? Nobody! Too often we hear the negatives. Urge your colleagues to showcase some of the positives, even this one time!

CASE is a multi-disciplinary A-Grade college that is committed to providing education and training of the highest quality in agriculture, science and teacher education to men and women in Jamaica. The college is one of the few governmental tertiary institutions in the country.

This college, in its mission, states that it is committed to promoting and fostering the development of individuals who are professionally qualified, articulate, culturally aware, environmentally aware and health conscious, morally sensitive, ethically motivated and service-oriented to respond to the needs of Jamaica and the region. And this it is doing. Check its recent graduation records, for example: a number of students have attested to CASE standards of excellence by rising from humble roots to earn outstanding degrees.

Once again, congratulations to you, CASE, and I urge you to continue being vigilant in your procurement practices.

Sonja Simms

sonja_simms@yahoo.com