GRADE SIX SOCIAL STUDIES
This week you will learn about Central and local Government.
Central Government After a general election, the party that wins the largest number of seats in Parliament forms the government. This elected government is called Central Government. It has the authority to govern the entire country and not just a part of it. It is also concerned with such areas as defence, trade, taxation and international relations that affect all the people in the country.
The power of the Central Government is separated and carried out into three branches:
Legislative Branch Executive Branch Judicial Branch
Do you remember the roles of these branches of government? See your notes again.
The Central Government of our country consists of the President and his cabinet which includes the Prime Minister and other ministers whom he has appointed from members of the National Assembly. Persons who are not elected Parliamentarians may also be appointed by the President to serve as ministers, but these persons cannot vote in the National Assembly.
Do you know the current ministers of government? Make a list of them and their ministries.
Let us find out the functions of the Central Government.
Functions of Central Government Central Government has many functions to perform in order for the country to develop and the citizens to enjoy a good quality of life. In what ways can citizens’ standard of living be improved? What can the government do to make life better for you and your family and all other families living in the country? Think on these questions for a moment.
In any country, people need the government to provide them with social services and opportunities for good jobs with reasonable wages and salaries. What do social services mean? Social services refer to the services provided by government to enhance or better the living conditions, health or other aspects of the lives of citizens in their communities. Social services include:
► Health facilities and medical clinics in order to have a healthy workforce;
► Education and training to prepare people, particularly youths, for the world of work;
► Protection and security through the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force;
► Sport facilities to encourage the discipline of physical, mental and spiritual development;
► Housing to cater for the need of shelter for families;
► Maintenance of roads, bridges, sea defence, adequate water supply, electricity, transportation and communication;
► Measures to deal with drug abuse, pollution, suicide, conservation of our forests and other resources and climate change;
► Care for the elderly, disabled (physically and mentally challenged) and destitute;
► Providing job opportunities and fixing wages and salaries.
strong,
The provision of the above essential services in every community in the entire country requires large amounts of money. Do you have any idea of how the government gets money to provide these services for its citizens? Let’s find out.
The money that government gets to provide these services is called revenue. The national budget presented in the National Assembly states the income or revenue and expenditure of the country. Expenditure refers to the money government spends on services and in other areas. Let us look at some areas from which government obtains revenue.
The Guyana Revenue Authority works to ensure that citizens and other persons pay customs duties, licences, income tax or any other tax they are required to pay.
Some Areas from which government obtains revenue includes: ► Customs duties and taxes on imported and exported goods such as
vehicles, barrels and containers; ► Income tax on people’s salaries (PAYE); ► Value Added Tax (VAT) on some imported and some locally
produced goods; ► Withholding taxes from people’s savings account at banks; ► Sale of licences for motor vehicles, businesses, transmitting
systems; ► Exports of rice, sugar, gold and diamond and other products; ► Sale of stamps and passports ► Court fines ► Foreign investments
For you to do 1. State some sources of government’s revenue for social services. 2. Give at least three examples of how government spends the
revenue it receives.
Local Government The Central Government has the responsibility of managing the affairs of the whole country at the national and international level. The Local Government has been created to spread out or distribute the power of the Central Government into the hands of the people, involving them in the task of managing and developing their communities. This has been done by dividing the country into 10 regions; each region having a Regional Democratic Council (RDC), a regional chairman and regional councillors. In every region the councillors elect from among themselves one member to sit in the National Assembly and two members to sit on the National Congress of Local Democratic Organs. Each RDC works on behalf of the Central Government to deliver services to citizens in its area and oversees the role of the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs)
Under the Local Government administration, the country has 9 municipalities, 65 NDCs and 75 Amerindian villages. An NDC comprises more than one community or village within a specific area and is supervised by a chairman, a vice-chairman and councillors. Local government is generally responsible for: ► Protecting and maintaining local physical surroundings through garbage collecting, cleaning of drains and parapets and maintenance of streets and bridges; ► Maintaining and protecting public property; ► Improving living and working conditions in a specific municipality
or NDC; ► Giving approval for the erection of buildings; ► Maintaining local recreational parks, markets and cemeteries.
For you to do 1. Find out how the local authorities get revenue to do their work.
Goodbye boys and girls!