BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – PARENTING legislation, improved accreditation processes and a greater focus on the link between crime and education are the education sector’s major priorities over the next year.
Hon. Sen. Nigel Carty made the disclosure yesterday (Mar. 24) in his response to Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas’ 2010 Budget Presentation on Tuesday (Mar. 23).
In his first parliamentary address since becoming the new Minister of Education and Information, Carty called the EC$61.9M allocated to his ministry an “appropriate budget”, one that would sustain the “considerable gains” made by his predecessor Deputy Prime Minister Hon. Sam Condor.
EC$53.6M of that amount is allocated for recurrent expenditure while EC$9.2M has been put aside for capital expenditure to be used in the construction of a day-care facility in St. Pauls.
Despite the 16.5 percent decrease in the ministry’s overall budgetary allotment (it received almost EC$74M in 2009), Douglas assured that his government would continue its investment in the sector.
Speaking on Tuesday, Carty supported Douglas’ statement and outlined the areas of action first on his ministry’s agenda. He revealed that public consultation would soon commence on the introduction of legislation to mandate parental involvement in schools.
Officials will also consider the implementation of “moral education” in schools and stiffen the requirements for offshore universities to establish bases in the Federation.
“We need to tighten the process because a number of schools received accreditation which seemed not to be abiding by standards set by the local accreditation board. The ministry, in collaboration with the European Union, is seeing what we can do to strengthen the accreditation process. That report is expected in a month or so.
“We have to maintain a reputation in the offshore education sector. If we do so, it will destroy all we’ve done in the past. We want schools that are functional and filled with quality staff that honour their commitment to students,” Carty stressed.
He praised the September 2009 opening of the Saddlers Secondary School, which he claimed would be a pioneer in the advancement of vocational education and training in St. Kitts-Nevis.
The Education Minister pointed to that achievement, as well as others made by his ministry in the past, as evidence the government was using education to assist in crime-fighting.
“By increasing access to education like we did with Saddlers Secondary, we’re helping to reduce crime by giving every boy and girl a chance to receive an education and be a productive member of society. When we increase the student-teacher ratio, as we have done in many of our schools, we are fostering better supervision in our schools and fighting the incidence of crime.
“When we train more teachers, we are helping to equip them with the skills to assist difficult students. When we strengthen the guidance counsellor programme, we increase the chances of the early identification of students trending toward deviance to get them back on the right track.”
