BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IN response to the Opposition’s claim that the Government of National Unity had deliberately disbanded the REACH Programme, Education Minister the Hon. Shawn Richards said it was not terminated but temporarily halted in order for the Administration to review its continuity.
“It is just that the Government has decided to move cautiously. The Government is doing a review of the programme, just as the Government has done a review of several different programmes that we met in place,” Minister Richards said on Wednesday (Feb. 17) while responding to a caller when he was a guest on the Government’s weekly programme ‘Working for You’.
The Recognising Everyone’s Ability to Climb Higher (REACH) Programme was initiated by the Labour Party Government in 2010 with the aim of boosting post-secondary education and training across the twin-island Federation.
According to the then Minister of Education, the Hon. Nigel Carty, through the provision of two-year scholarships and grant financing, the REACH Programme creates opportunities for students in the Federation leaving secondary school to easily pursue higher academic learning and certified technical and vocational training.
Carty also said that the programme would help graduates from post-secondary institutions, who are seeking employment, pursue short-term professional life and work skills training. He further said that it was “critically important for the development of a competitive and efficient workforce”.
Richards, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, declared that member of the Cabinet had held discussions on the programme on a number of occasions.
“We have had concerns expressed by various persons about the REACH Programme. We have had the good and we have had the bad relative to the REACH Programme.
“No doubt, the REACH Programme has assisted students in attending be it AVEC, the Basseterre Sixth Form College, the CFBC and the other institutions which have benefitted from the REACH Programme or where you have students attending,” Richards explained.
He however disclosed that the Cabinet had commissioned a committee to evaluate the programme so as to guide the members in making a decision on it.
“Let me interject here,” he quickly said, “in that the REACH Programme was been funded by SIDF. We are also aware of the fact that since the change of Administration we have for the most part halted all of the transactions, all of the work being done by SIDF, and so the REACH Programme was affected as a result of that.”
The Opposition had also claimed that many students could not have continued their studies at the CFBC because of the Government’s decision. It further claimed that most of those students’ parents are from the poorer class working for minimum wage and they could not afford to pay the fees.
And in a recent statement, Dr. Terrance Drew, the Labour Party’s representative for Constituency Number Eight, said: “The ending of the REACH Programme has resulted in nearly 500 students dropping out of the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College. They have dropped out because they cannot afford to pay or decided not to go.”
To this end, Richards said, “What we have said to the Registrar of CFBC is to ensure that all students are able to register before their exams, et cetera, regardless as to whether or not they are in a financial position to pay, so that there shouldn’t be any student not being able to undertake exams because of the fact that the REACH Programme has been halted at this particular point in time while the Government makes a decision as to the continuity of the programme.”
The Education Minister stated that the Government had consulted with the Ministry of Finance in an effort to financially support the programme on a short-term basis.
“We even went so far as to speak with the Ministry of Finance to get advice from the Ministry of Finance as to if it is in a position in the interim to meet the cost of the REACH Programme. I also know that the Interim Board for SIDF has been looking at that particular programme to see if in the interim anything can be done to assist the students.”
On Tuesday, April 28, 2015 during his monthly press conference, Prime Minister Harris told media representatives that there was only $200M remaining in the fund of the SIDF.
“We have been able since taking office to have gone through the maze of documents and we have some information which I could report in relation to the SIDF. Bearing in mind that these are not necessarily audited financial information.
“The preliminary results would indicate that from December 2007 to December 2014 the SIDF received aggregate income of $1.47 billion. The spendthrift Administration, just gone out, supported expenditure from that fund of $1.26 billion. The SIDF up to 2014 had received aggregate income of $1.4 billion. At the end of that said reported period, they had expended out of that fund $1.26 billion. The Foundation in a very real sense operated in the eyes of many as a slush fund and an alternative government for the ex-regime.”
He proffered the view that the former Administration did not intend to leave any money in the fund for the Government of National Unity to conduct the country’s financial affairs.
