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| St. Kitts and Nevis' Prime Minister and Parliamentary Representative, Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas (second from right) and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Hon. Sam Condor (right) along with government officials and resdients of Saddlers at the ground breaking ceremony for the new Saddlers Secondary School. |
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, SEPTEMBER 7TH 2006 - Construction of the new Saddlers Secondary School and Multi-Purpose Learning Complex is underway.
At a ground breaking ceremony to mark the commencement of Phase I of the project, St. Kitts and Nevis' Prime Minister and Parliamentary Representative for the area, Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas said the Federation's future is heavily linked to a well-educated population and it is vital that this view be supported with physical facilities and the enhancement of the curricular that meet the needs of developing nations.
"It is not only the physical setting that will be different and will be enhancing the educational opportunities for our children, but the teachers as well, will get the opportunity to operate in a new setting and will pursue a new curriculum that will make a difference in the type of educated individual that we are producing here in St. Kitts and Nevis, especially from this facility," Dr. Douglas told government officials and residents gathered to witness the ceremony.
Dr. Douglas said the education system must ensure that it "provides a strong opportunities for our children to learn life skills, to develop critical thinking, leadership and to learn how to make intelligent choices."
"That is the type of curriculum that we want to work with in this modern facility," said Prime Minister Douglas.
He said the new Saddlers Secondary School and Multi-Purpose Learning Complex must ensure that the curriculum offered provides a strong foundation for students to pursue tertiary-level education and the system must ensure that education facilities also provide opportunities for communities to pursue adult education and that such facilities are used also to broaden and enrich the entire community life.
"This school here, this learning facility, I emphasise is not only for our children in the secondary school setting. It is for their parents, their uncles, aunts, the adults of Saddlers who wants to continue to learn, who wants to learn new life skills that can be applied especially at this time of our development in order that they can reach into new opportunities for employment and thus provide alternatives for themselves and for their families," stressed Dr. Douglas.
He said the children of the Saddlers and other communities have a wonderful opportunity under the system of education as it offers them the opportunity to gain fundamental experience and to develop their own confidence and self esteem and pride to demonstrate that learning can assist them in expressing themselves and to share their own ideas with others.
"All of these activities and experiences are necessary to achieve a highly functional individual later in life; an individual who can make significant contributions to the continued growth and development of our country," said Dr. Douglas.
~~Adz:Right~~Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Hon. Sam Condor noted the ground breaking coincides with the celebration of the 40th Anniversary of Universal Secondary Education in St. Kitts and Nevis.
He admitted that the decision to build another secondary school in St. Kitts, where there are already five, was met with strong opposition from some international and regional organisations.
"They are wondering why we want to build another secondary school in St. Kitts and Nevis. In St. Kitts, we have five and this one will make six; and we have two on Nevis. They are saying that of a population of 35,000, we do not need another secondary school. They question our teacher-student ration. But this is an education government and our Labour Governments past and present have always focused on education. We believe that if we are to develop, progress and advance as a society, it is through education that we are going to do that," said the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, who pointed to the recent Poverty Assessment Survey has identified Saddlers as a depressed area.
"We believe that it is through education that we would be able to transform this part of the country," said Minister Condor, who noted that the construction of the new Saddlers Secondary School and Multi-Purpose Learning Complex is being built following the closure of the sugar industry.
"This area, Saddlers is part of the sugar belt and we are transforming our economy from one of sugar agriculture to one which is diversified consisting of tourism, agriculture, financial and information technology services economy. It is through the services of this Saddlers Secondary School that we would be able to do this," said Minister Condor.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Mr. Osmond Petty said the new secondary school is being constructed under the OECS Education Development Project (OEDP) that is funded jointly by a loan from the World Bank and the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis. The works for Phase 1 include Site Preparation and External Works.
Ten (10) of the more experienced local contractors in St. Kitts were invited to tender for the Phase 1 works. The lowest evaluated bidder was Jenkins Ltd and a contract has been awarded to Jenkins Ltd. to undertake the works for Phase 1 of the Saddlers Secondary School. Phase 1 works will be supervised by the Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department, in collaboration with the Project Management Unit.
"Phase I is to be completed around the 9th of March 2007 and around that time, we would be into Phase II, with the construction of classrooms, toilets, science and computer labs, learning resource centres and other technical learning spaces by September 2008.
The Ministry of Education is now involved in the introduction of TVET through occupational skill areas in the secondary school curriculum and the expansion of Government's national skills training programme. The new secondary school at Saddlers will therefore provide a rural community base for selected TVET activities, particularly those related to Information and Communication Technology and entrepreneurship training. It will therefore function as a Multi-Purpose Training Complex for learners of all age groups.
The new secondary school will introduce new dimensions reflecting modern thinking in the architectural design, curriculum organization and administration of secondary schools through better rationalisation of the curriculum allowing for improved space utilisation rates; use of some classrooms as multi-task learning spaces with flexible furniture configurations; use of mobile labs and Information Technology equipment; and ensuring complete access to all parts of the school compound, and all facilities, by any physically challenged student in a wheel chair.
