San Fernando Mayor Junia Regrello caused a stir at Presentation College recently when he told students that rather than use their “privileges” to their own advantage they should help those who did not get “an escalator in life.”
At the time Regrello was speaking at a prize-giving function at the school’s auditorium in San Fernando. The school won five open scholarships and ten national scholarships and was also celebrating the success of Joel Ryan Kissoon who placed first in the Caribbean at the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Exams (CAPE).
Regrello said if he was 11 years old and came from a poor family, Presentation College would not have been his first choice school because he would have had to hustle through the streets to get to school while most of his classmates arrived in air-conditioned SUVs. He said too often people from low income households don’t get a fair chance.
“For those receiving the privilege, it is difficult to be aware of this special treatment since in most cases you have been receiving it all your lives. Privilege must not be used to your advantage. There are those who may have the innate talent and ability to succeed but are unable to climb the social ladder whereas some of you are afforded the escalator upwards,” he said.
“Therefore you have a collective responsibility to assist your brothers who were left behind.”
The mayor said opportunities must be given to poor students with abilities: “I would negotiate with the Catholic Board that of the 20 per cent of the SEA intake allocated to us, ten per cent would be reserved for the privileged and the other ten percent for the principal which would allow me to seek children in the wider community with academic skills who are deserving of a chance.”
Regrello’s comments did not go down well with some in the audience.
Justice Anthony Lucky, a past student of the school who was on hand to present special awards, was loudly applauded when he said that when he attended Presentation he ran to school every day and the only “air condition” he enjoyed was from the San Fernando Hill.
Former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday delivered the feature address but made no reference to Regrello’s comments. He told students to never entertain a negative thought about their ambitions.
“Just as positive thoughts attract positive events and positive results, so too do negative thoughts attract negative reactions and negative results. It is called the power of positive thinking,” he said.