#Providenciales, March 29, 2019 – Turks and Caicos – As Acting Minister of Education, I must respond to the claims of the Former Minister of Education that the EDF11 Program signed by myself in Aruba last year February is 2 years behind. These claims are regrettably untrue and whilst we have experienced challenges from mother nature and man – made, we are pleased with the progress of the Program and was commended for this progress during the month of February this year whilst attending the EU Forum in Tahiti.
The Financing Agreement signed between TCIG and the
European Union in February 2017 is in support of the Government’s plans to
reform the education sector. It should be noted and understand that the
reformation of the education sector is not limited to the new Primary School
only, but it includes numerous areas which the Government committed to improve
over the life of the agreement.
While it is true that the Government experience
some delays in the commencement of the construction of the new Primary School
in Long Bay, this is not to say that there are delays in other areas. For
example, the Agreement made provision for consultancy to assist the Ministry
in;
1)
to develop a ten-year school infrastructure and equipment maintenance and
modernisation plan for the Ministry of Education, Youth, Sports and Library
Services (MoEYSLS);
2) to
build capacity within the Ministry/ Department of Education Schools to develop
school maintenance plans and also to better monitor school infrastructure
projects which is directly applicable to their school.
These initiatives are well underway, and since
2018/19 financial year, each School was provided with their own maintenance
budget to facilitate minor and quick maintenance of their equipment and
infrastructure. In addition, work is in advance stage by the consultant to
adequately project the space need and resource requirements to ensure effective
planning and financing well into the future to meet the needs of our students.
The Agreement also provided for a team of
consultants to conduct a feasibility study and implementation strategy for the
establishment of a National Technical Vocational
Training Centre and Agency. This work is nearing completion and we are
receiving a presentation from the consultant this week. Based on the results of
the feasibility study, the Government will use this information as guidance in
establishing a Vocational
Education System in the TCI.
We have already seen a number of changes in
reforming the Scholarship Policy, the reform of the School Curriculum for
infants 1-4 with further revision of the primary school curriculum for upper
grades in progress for completion by summer 2019. We have witness the
introduction of CPEA to replace the GSAT exams and the introduction of CCSLC in
the lower forms of High Schools in order to reform the way our students learn.
These are but a few examples of the depth of work
which is involved in the reform of the Education System. In respect to
the New Primary School, the apparent delay in the commencement of the
construction was due to a number of factors;
1) The Ministry conducted
an extensive survey of possible site locations to place the new school. Taking
into consideration a number of factors, including but not limited to
environmental consideration, transportation issue, size of land and proximity
to a community. In the end the location was finalized to be Long bay.
2) Given the
environmental sensitivity of the Government, before proceeding, the Ministry
retained the services of an independent consultant to conduct an in-depth
Environmental Impact Assessment which looked at all possible implications to
the site and the neighboring environment, including potential noise impacts.
The report provided a number of recommendations to mitiate the impacts which we
are working to implement.
3) We also received
challenges from community members and the elected representative and former
Minister of Education Hon Akierr Missick about the location of the school. This
further delayed the start of the School. The Government listened to their
concerns, and held several meetings to better explain the details of the
proposed plans. Wherever possible, we took on board some of the recommendations
to mitigate and alleviate the concerns raised by the community members. We are
pleased that now both the elected representative and the community members are
now settled and the Project will be moving forward. Though we are behind in
terms of timeline, we expect the building of the School to move forward
quickly. We continue to enjoy much success under the EDF11 Program and my
Government is grateful to the EU and the Government stakeholders for all the
work done.
Hon Sharlene L Cartwright Robinson
Premier & Finance
The Turks and Caicos Islands