Born in Carapichaima, Fazal Karim was in touch with the struggles of the average youth, fully understanding their needs and wants.
After graduating from UWI, Fazal started teaching at Carapichaima Senior Secondary School. Wanting to do more, Fazal was coordinator of the The UWI School of Continuation Studies, an outreach program of the UWI that set out to provide vocational training to all without the need for any pre-requisite qualifications. What was also unique about this program was that the tuition fee was small, the tutors were experienced teachers drawn from Tech-Voc department of the secondary system and the classes were on evenings and Saturdays to cater for those who were working.
Fazal Karim understood the Tech-Voc needs of the country and hence his success in expanding this field through YTEPP, NESC and MIC after assuming the portfolio of Minister of Science and Tertiary Education (2010-2015). It was under Karim’s leadership that the NESC centers expanded throughout the country. I know of several youths who were certified after completing courses in these institutions and were later successful in winning jobs in reputable companies, Toyota being one among them.
The expansion of UTT Campuses to include flying small planes and boat building was visionary. I remember him coining the phrase ‘from cutting cane to flying plane’ when launching the Aviation Campus at Camden, Couva.
In a country where the norm is to concentrate all government offices and learning institutions in North Trinidad and San Fernando, I was happy to see a COSTAATT Campus in the heart of Chaguanas, a South Campus of UWI in Penal and NESC centers throughout the country.
Fazal Karim was a technocrat inside out and was naïve about the intrigues of politics and he suffered bitterly. It was an insult to Fazal Karim for the UNC to replace him with a political neophyte in the person of Vandana Mohip. It only demonstrated that politics has no gratitude for those who toil and serve with excellence.
As a constituent of Chaguanas East I must say that it was a privilege to have Fazal Karim as my MP and more so, that he hailed from the heartland.
I know that he is a big loss to the nation but the institutions of learning that he built would certainly throw up several Fazal Karims to continue his legacy of service with humility and distinction.