I am delighted to first offer my congratulations as Minister of Education and Youth Affairs to the Bregado Flax Educational Centre’s Secondary Division Graduating Class of 2012. Our entire community is indeed very proud to see all of you accomplish this milestone along your academic journey.
I want to recognise this year’s valedictorian, Tahirah Bascombe and the salutatorian, J’Verne Findlay for their academic achievements. It is my understanding that both are not just stars in academics, but also on the field and on the court, respectively as national soccer and basketball team members. Your work among over 250 students that took the secondary school leaving exam was indeed exemplary.
I also want to offer my congratulations to the parents and guardians of our graduates. As a community we want to recognise your hard work that helped our graduates get to this momentous occasion. In this day and age, our young people face many challenges and distractions. Thanks to your will and determination as parents and guardians of our graduates, you were able to firmly hold the hands of these students to help them transcend those challenges. Also for your hard work, I want to offer my congratulations on your success.
Our teachers in our public school system continue to be the unsung heroes of our society. Though our teachers have the opportunity to boast having laid the educational foundation for Ministers of Government, doctors, lawyers, high-ranking public servants, well-known contractors, police officers and fellow teachers, not often enough are our educators celebrated in the same light as those individuals.
As Minister of Education, and on behalf of the Ministry and Department of Education, I want to thank the teachers of Bregado Flax Educational Centre for their continued commitment to educating our students and our community.
As this is my first graduation season as the Minister of Education, I have been taking a few liberties and offering remarks instead of greetings. If my friends of Virgin Gorda do not mind, I plan to take a moment to hopefully communicate the urgency and need for our graduates to find ways that they can participate in the development of the Virgin Islands.
Graduates, as cliché as it sounds, you are the future of the Virgin Islands. What you plan to do with your professional lives will dictate who we in the Virgin Islands will be in the next 20 years. And though 2032 sounds very far off, believe me when I say it will come quicker than you think.
Will the Virgin Islands still be leaders in tourism and financial services? Who will be the owners of our economy? Who will make up our House of Assembly? Who will be leading our law enforcement agencies? And who will be in a position to steer the direction of this territory? Students, graduates of Bregado Flax Educational Centre, our country needs you to be the answers to those questions.
According to the autobiography of Virgin Islands entrepreneur and a gentleman that was born on Virgin Gorda, the late J. R. O’Neal, it was in 1964 when tourism was introduced to the territory and notably when Lawrence Rockefeller decided to invest in Virgin Gorda in the development of what is now Rosewood Little Dix Bay Resort. At the time there were approximately 350 persons living on this island.
With the development of the property, many opportunities came to residents and by the year 2000 the economy had substantially grown and spilled over into opportunities for migrant workers from around the Caribbean. This boosted the population to over 4500 residents on Virgin Gorda.
During that time, families such as the Flaxs, Harrigans, Georges and O’Neals had opportunities to gain better employment. Within a generation, they were able to substantially improve the lives of their families and became stakeholders in the industry. Today we see in these families the prosperity they have managed to achieve for generations.
However graduates, almost 40 years after the arrival of a stable tourism industry to our shores, we see establishments having to bring in top level managers to run their resorts when excellence in the hospitality sector should be part of the identity of Virgin Islanders. It is the tourism industry that has allowed hundreds of Virgin Islanders to have a stake in the economic activity of this country. I am a test to that fact and I want it to be the same for you graduates.
Our sailing waters are known throughout the world. Very few destinations can boast our pristine waters and the opportunity to touch down on so many islands in one day. Yet tourists pay upwards of $2000 for a 10-day sailing excursion and the captains and crew on those yachts come from as far as New Zealand, England and South Africa.
Who knows these waters more than the young men and women that have swam, dived and sailed our seas from the time of their birth? Who can give tourists a truly unique experience of the history and people of our islands? Graduates, our charter industry and the many lucrative opportunities it provides are largely untouched by our local population.
As citizens we are missing out on opportunities to own tourism based establishments, to work in this sector and learn about an industry that puts bread on the table for the majority of residents in the Virgin Islands. Furthermore, our tourism industry is too important to our economy for us to not have Virgin Islanders in the majority of key positions and establishments. That is the situation we find ourselves in today and graduates we are depending on you to change that.
The same can be said for our financial services industry. I want you to know that when the Virgin Islands arrived on the financial services scene, the way we developed polices and laws to constructively develop the sector was ingenuity at its best. I will also have you graduates to know that the sector was not one that was handed to us. It was Virgin Islanders like our late Chief Minister, Cyril B. Romney that chartered waters in the industry and secured a space for the Virgin Islands to become a world leader in the sector.
After we have developed this industry to what it is today, we see from time to time, our industry is being tested. The yardstick for transparency and regulation keeps on shifting and for us to stay in this industry we need a fresh set of minds to challenge and address these evolving requirements.
We need young persons such as yourselves to soon replace the Virgin Islanders that are heading our industry in both the private sector and statutory boards. We need to ensure that in 2032, the Virgin Islands remain a premier financial services jurisdiction, with young persons like yourselves leading this sector.
Much of the lifestyle we know today is largely attributed to these two industries. Whether you know someone in the industry or not, the economic contribution these industries make helps all of us to live an above standard lifestyle in comparison to most other Caribbean states. Without the right leadership guiding this industry, without Virgin Islanders and citizens like yourselves working at all levels in this industry, it can surely be taken from us.
I recently came across a statement by American writer, Alvin Toffler that said, The secret message communicated to most young people today by the society around them is that they are not needed, that the society will run itself quite nicely until they - at some distant point in the future - will take over the reigns.
Yet the fact is that the society is not running itself nicely... because the rest of us need all the energy, brains, imagination and talent that young people can bring to bear down on our difficulties. For society to attempt to solve its desperate problems without the full participation of even very young people is imbecile."
Graduates, that statement spoke to me because day in and day out I see many young people sitting on the sidelines trying to find opportunities to participate in the development of our society. Today on the day of your graduation, on the day that our community welcomes you as young adults, I want to say that the Virgin Islands needs your youthful enthusiasm, your fertile mind, your aptitude for technology and your innovative talents to help us develop the Virgin Islands right now.
We need you to return the leadership of our country in all areas to the individuals that call these islands our home.
As you leave high school, whether you are seeking employment or moving on to college, young people, I encourage you to do whatever it is you decide to do to the best of your ability and with a winning attitude. The vast majority of skills needed to succeed in any profession can be learned. With the right attitude, you will find success much sooner and you will find that great opportunities and the right people will become available to you for you to learn and grow.
Though some people do not like to hear me say it, I will tell you the same thing that I told your peers at Elmore Stoutt High School. As Virgin Islanders we cannot depend on being born here to get us everywhere in life. It is because we are born here that we should have the highest level of pride in this great territory to do our part to protect its rights and keepings for the next generation of Virgin Islanders.
Being born here should never be used as an excuse or reason to wait for opportunities to fall in our laps. Being born here should give us all the energy and motivation to go out and work hard, find opportunities to develop our talents in order to become stakeholders in the industries and affairs that run this great territory.
So graduates, envision the year 2032 is here. I ask again, Who will be the owners of our economy? Will it be entrepreneurs in the form of Gabriel Williams and William Bridgewater? Who will make up our House of Assembly? Will it be community stalwarts in the form of Rahiem Walters and Sabbina Creque? Who will be leading our law enforcement agencies? Will it be Shanice Fergusson and Deandre Rhymer? And who will be in a position to steer the direction of this territory?
Bregado Flax Educational Centre’s graduating class of 2012, I will be working doubly hard to ensure that the captains of industries and the conductors of our great territory can be either one of you. Your territory needs you to work just as hard as you enter college and seek employment to secure that 2032 vision of your success and the success of the Virgin Islands.
At the Ministry and Department of Education and Culture, we realise that we have an integral role in assuring the success of the next generation of industry leaders. That is why in September, for the first time in secondary schools, we will be teaching tourism and financial services courses.
I want our young people to know the ins and outs of these industries long before they even apply for their first job in these fields. Developing an early appreciation for these sectors will allow a new generation of Virgin Islanders to see their value and their opportunities.
As I announced last week, the graduating class of 2014 will be the first cohort of secondary schools students in which all students will be required to sit the Caribbean Examination Council exams. Based on our meetings in May, we have identified that all relevant stakeholders, teachers, parents, students and even your District Representative and Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Ralph T. O’Neal, agrees that it is the right decision to make to substantiate the learning of our students and guarantee their global competiveness.
As the Ministry and Department of Education and Culture embark on a journey of developing a culture of excellence within our education system, I ask that you our graduates and our wider community join us.
We seek to educate our young people both in the classroom and outside of the classroom to improve their competences and their capacity to lead in any area that is needed in this territory. I believe with a spirit of excellence we will be effective.
At this time, as in previous years, I take pleasure in announcing the following awards on behalf of the Government of the Virgin Islands under the auspices of the Ministry of Education as guided by the information received from the hard working and dedicated administrative staff of the Bregado Flax Educational Centre‘s Secondary Division:
? The Valedictorian – Tahirah Bascombe has been awarded the Ilma O’Neal Traditional National Scholarship, a laptop computer and an iPad compliments of the Ministry of Education and Culture.
? The Salututorian – J’Verne Findlay has also been awarded a Traditional National Scholarship, an iPad and a kindle compliments of the Ministry of Education and Culture.
National scholarship awards have been awarded to the following students for attaining a grade point average of 7.0 and above:
? Denesha Gumbs
? Sapphire Flax-Clarke
? Yeassu Shilchand
? Alexander Parillon Jr.
? Gabriel Williams
? Monique Joseph
All other students maintaining a grade point average of 6.0 to 6.99 are also eligible for a two year scholarship abroad after completing two years at the H. L. Stoutt Community College, provided they full-fill all the necessary requirements for their scholarships, these students include:
? Hanika Nichols
? Ryshawn Malone
? Rasheim Walters
? Deondre Rymer, and
? Caleb Williams
I am pleased to also recognise a number of students for the hard work and diligence during this school year. Each student will be receiving a brand new Kindle Fire, compliments of the Ministry of Education and Culture. They are:
? Crystal Koonts who is being recognised as “most determined to succeed”.
? Caleb Williams who is being recognised as the “most improved male student”, and
? Shanice Ferguson who is being recognised as the “most improved female student”.
In closing, I would again like to offer my sincere congratulations to the hard working team of educators, parents and guardians, who have been instrumental in ensuring the success of this graduating class and wish each of you the very best in your future endeavours.
As we seek to create a culture of excellence in education, I look forward to seeing you, our graduates, achieve with excellence and having the opportunity to make your contribution to these beautiful Virgin Islands.
Thank you and once again, congratulations to the Bregado Flax Educational Centre’s Secondary Division Graduating class of 2012.
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