LETTER | Report cards are a farce!
LETTER | Every prime minister, who comes into office, would promise “100 days report cards” for all his ministers or agencies. Inevitably every report card would “pass” with flying colours. Not a single minister or head of an agency has ever been chastised for poor showing before. In fact, there has never been a failed grade.
Why then do they continue doing it? Other than flattering themselves, everyone knows the whole exercise is a farce.
LETTER | Every prime minister, who comes into office, would promise “100 days report cards” for all his ministers or agencies. Inevitably every report card would “pass” with flying colours. Not a single minister or head of an agency has ever been chastised for poor showing before. In fact, there has never been a failed grade.
Why then do they continue doing it? Other than flattering themselves, everyone knows the whole exercise is a farce.
Who are they trying to impress with those report cards when no one really believes them anymore. It is like continuing the theatre show but without the audience. I think self-indulgence has become overwhelming and those involved have become numb.
Producing report cards requires time, resources and money. So please save us the charade and get on with the real work. Instead of measuring and boasting achievements, it is better just to do the real work.
What difference would a report card make when it says it has completed 95% of its work when three quarters of the drains and roads are not repaired or resurfaced for ages?
What difference would a report card make when it says it has reduced corruption by 90% when the whole world knows corruption has become endemic and pervasive?
What difference would the report card make when it says it has dispensed 99% of the budget allocations when most money was channelled to wrong or unproductive use?
Report cards divert attention and scarce resources to unproductive uses like indulging in meaningless monitoring, writing meaningless glossy reports that no one reads and holding endless meetings that produce no substantive works or outcomes.
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