A spanking new $186 million dormitory which can accommodate up to 120 tertiary students from the hinterland, was yesterday declared open by President David Granger, who said the construction of the facility is in keeping with a ten-point action plan for development of the interior.
The plan was unveiled months after he had taken up office in 2015 and while things have improved, he highlighted that there is still a gap in education between hinterland and coastland regions.
“Education is the surest and swiftest way to reduce inequality. The gap between the hinterland and coastland regions, however, is still painfully evident. The performance of hinterland students can be measured by the results of the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) and the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations,” the Head of State told those gathered at the Liliendaal location of the dormitory.
The national educational policy, according to the President, is aiming at closing the existing gap, which is necessary to reduce poverty and reverse hinterland unemployment and underdevelopment and to reduce hinterland migration and ensure a more inclusive and cohesive nation.
According to the President, the action plan he had laid out to Toshaos in August of 2015 was aimed at reducing inequality between residents of the hinterland and the rest of the country by eradicating poverty, promoting employment and economic prosperity and by enhancing access to public services.
It is that plan, he said, which has guided Government’s actions to empower hinterland residents through education, employment, economic enterprises, energy, infrastructure, land rights, poverty-reduction, public services and cultural development.
He highlighted the need for the country to reduce the disparities in education between the coastland and the hinterland if it is to become a more equal society. “Education is [the] single most important factor likely to have the greatest impact on hinterland development,” he stressed.
He further pointed out that education is an entitlement which can be realised only if every child has access to primary and secondary education, attends school and attains the ultimate objectives of education by completing his or her schooling.
To this end, the country’s education policy emphasises the three ‘A’s – ‘A’ for access; ‘A’ for attendance and ‘A’ for attainment. “This means that every child must be assured of access to school and must be enabled to attend school and be equipped with the knowledge to attain a satisfactory standard of education. The opening of this dormitory adds a fourth ‘A’ – accommodation,” the President said.
As it relates to the first ‘A’, the President said access to education means that sufficient institutions of learning must be available and equipped to impart quality education to everyone, including the visually and physically challenged. Access is being improved through the expansion and improvement of educational infrastructure.
Access to education for hinterland students, the Head of State said, is being facilitated through the provision of government-supported scholarships, which provide opportunities for hinterland students to enjoy secondary and tertiary education.
He disclosed that the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs has increased the number of hinterland scholarships from 120 in 2014 to 186 in 2018. Hinterland students, also, have been among the beneficiaries of the 1,599 tertiary-level scholarships offered by the Department of the Public Service since 2015.
“Educational performance is vital to ensuring the success of the nation’s educational system. Government’s objective in terms of attainment is to ensure that every school child passes the National Grade Six Assessment and that every secondary school student matriculates by the year 2030,” the Head of State said.
And accommodation is being improved by the provision of accommodation for students. According to the President, dormitories have been constructed at 19 locations in nine regions. These dormitories allow more hinterland students to benefit from educational services.
According to Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Valerie Garrido-Lowe, the dormitory at Liliendaal will accommodate 64 males and 56 females, with up to eight persons in an apartment, equipped with kitchen facilities and bathroom facilities. The students will do their own cooking but the facility will be managed by the staff members, inclusive of an administrator.
Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Alfred King, disclosed that the building was designed by Kalitech Inc Engineering Design and Supervisory Consultant and built by B. K. International. While it was slated for completion in September, 2018, an extension was granted and it was not completed until March of this year and is presently in its defects liability phase.
The building has internet connection and in a month’s time, according to King, there will be a hub that will be converted to an e-library.
Attendance
Government has been addressing the issue of attendance at school through the launch of the Public Education Transportation Service (PETS) on July 15th, 2015, which started as the 3Bs project. Since then, 29 buses, 10 boats and more than 1,400 bicycles have been distributed under the programme to make it easier for children to attend school.
And in highlighting the importance of teacher training, the President said that this must be a career-long exercise, pursuing professional development either in education or through specialisation in subject areas. He said heads of schools have a vital role to play in ensuring that the full curricula is delivered, that teachers complete their assignments and that classroom time is not lost.
“Your government continues to emphasise teacher training. Almost 1,900 teachers were trained and added to the teaching profession since 2015. The pedagogical skills of teachers are being improved for quality delivery of the curriculum. I personally requested and secured successfully assistance from the People’s Republic of China for the refurbishing of laboratories at the Cyril Potter College of Education. The One Laptop per Teacher programme has provided 8,848 teachers with computers to improve the delivery of education,” the Head of State said to applause from the audience.
Further, he said teachers have benefitted from increased wages and improving conditions of work. And student-teachers of the Cyril Potter College of Education benefitted from increased stipends; resident students received a 66 per cent increase in 2018 and non-resident students a 52 per cent increase.
Improvements in educational attainment will take time. They cannot be achieved overnight. Improving student performance, including that of hinterland students, involves both short and long-term measures.
Meantime, Minister of Education, Nicolette Henry, told the gathering that education has been more accessible to children of the hinterland areas, revealing that a study done in 2013 found that the mathematical and literacy level of children in the remote areas who were about to enter the primary level was very low but now there is a “story of hope.”
