Up Front
Focus on facilities as EducationMinistry continues tour
John Gray High School held a brief break-time receptionfor the visitors, during which they chatted informally with manymembers of staff.
Minister Bodden speaks to two young Savannah Primarystudents.
Government Information Services
Education Minister, Hon. Roy Bodden continuedhis familiarisation tour of the education system from Thursday,December 7, to Monday, December 18.
In addition to visiting the Island's five largest primary schools,the minister also met with staff and students at George HicksHigh School, John Gray High School, the Alternative EducationProgramme (AEP) and the Community College.
While Mr Bodden discussed key issues affecting each site withschool principals, he also took the time to tour classroom andother facilities to get a first- hand look at existing accommodationsand the need for expansion at each site.
"My purpose was to gain a bird's eye view of the strengthsand challenges that affect the local education system,îMr Bodden said at the end of the tour. "In the area of physicalimprovements, I have committed to upgrading and expanding facilitiesto provide the student population with the accommodations theydeserve.
"With regards to curriculum changes, I look forward to workingclosely with teachers as well as with Education Department representativesto make sure that the programme we have in place is best suitedto the needs of our young people. Overall, I have to say I wasvery impressed by the knowledge, the dedication and commitmentof our teaching staff, as well as the enthusiasm of the childrenwho really put their best foot forward."
Savannah Primary, in the minister's home district of Bodden Town,was the first of the remaining Government primary schools to bevisited. Principal Leonora Mendoza Hydes told Mr Bodden, PermanentSecretary, Mrs Joy Basdeo, and Chief Education Officer, Ms NydaFlatley that the addition of a new classroom block had allowedthe school to reopen its library as well as a small staff-room.Next on the priority list, Mrs Mendoza said, would be the renovationand expansion of aging bathroom facilities in the school's mainblock.
At Red Bay Primary, the next stop on the tour, the minister visitedthe infants' section. Deputy Principal, Mr. Michael Walker alsotook the Minister to the juniors" playing field at the rearof the school. Comprised mostly of filled in swamp, the fieldhas had difficulty growing turf.
The Education and Public Works Departments are continuing to investigatesolutions for resurfacing the facility. Following a break-timechat with senior staff, Mr Bodden and other officials walked alongthe corridor connecting Red Bay to the new Lighthouse School (LHS)site. The group inspected the interior of the soon to be restoredbuilding which will serve Red Bay as a multi-purpose hall, andLHS as a canteen. They also spoke to workmen about progress todate.
Next on the itinerary was George Town Primary where PrincipalMarie Martin and students Melissa Smith and Mario Hunnigan welcomedthe delighted education officials to the school.
Melissa and Mario, Ms Martin explained to her guests, were thecover models of the new year-two social studies textbooks. Priorto a lunch-time meeting with teachers, Mr Bodden visited someof the school's most crowded classrooms and inspected some ofthe facilities in its oldest block.
At the meeting, he re-emphasised his commitment to finding adequateaccommodations for schools. In response to various other personnelconcerns he repeated a suggestion made to educators at other schools,that they restart the now defunct Teachers" Association,to give their concerns added weight.
Some days later, John A. Cumber Primary became the final governmentprimary school to receive a visit from the new education minister.Mr Bodden and his staff visited classes in both the infant andjunior blocks to compare accommodations. He also met for someminutes with new librarian Katherine Koch, in addition to spendingtime in the new computer lab where peripatetic information technologyteacher, Mr. Jeff Lill was leading a class.
Describing his first official visit to the school as enlightening,West Bay MLA, Mr. Cline Glidden, who with his fellow districtrepresentatives accompanied the Minister to the school, summedup the new Government's mood with regard to the education system:"We look forward to assisting with the necessary improvements.In West Bay, of course, we are anticipating the construction ofa second school, and it is clear from what we have seen todaythat space is a necessity. However an impressive groundwork hasalready been laid thanks to all staff, including increasing numbersof local teachers. This of course is something that we'd liketo see even more of, young people making a commitment to education."
At the two Government high schools, the minister followed a similaragenda to his primary school visits. Meetings with the principaland senior staff were followed by quick tours of the compound.
George Hicks Principal, Mrs. Adora Bodden, showed the group aroundthe school's state-of-the-art two-classroom art block, as wellthe renovated and expanded multi-purpose hall and canteen. Onthe way to the canteen, where they had lunch, Mrs Bodden sharedwith officials the success of the school's new breakfast programmewhich now serves some 200 students a full breakfast every dayfrom 7:30 am.
Plans for expansions were also on the agenda at John Gray HighSchool, where Principal Debra McLaughlin showed the Minister aroundthe science, English, social studies and careers blocks and theschool canteen.
During the tour, the principal pointed out to Mr Bodden the sitefor the location of the school's next, and as yet unscheduled,classroom block development. In addition, the group also saw thesports complex where the hard court surface has been sufficientlyeroded to reveal the underlying tarmac.
In addition to reviewing physical facilities, Minister Boddenmet with careers teacher Beverly Chin Sinn to discuss an issuethat had played an important role in his campaign, the developmentof a vocational education programme.
Vocational education was also on the agenda for his visit to theAlternative Education Programme compound in central George Town,where he was given the opportunity of seeing this kind of trainingin action.
Principal John Alban guided education officials on a tour of theschool's three main units, the tutorial unit, the suspension unitand the transition unit, which between them account for some 40students. The first centre provides academic training to studentsof middle school age (11-13 years); the second houses studentson suspension.
Meanwhile the transition unit is intended to assist the integrationof students into the job market. Students enrolled in this unitattend classes in life skills, careers, computer studies, as wellas math and English. They are also required to take part in variouswork placements throughout the year. For the minister's visit,young people were called in from their work placements specificallyto meet and talk with him.
Mr Bodden also took time to read several news stories, postedon the classroom walls, of students who had successfully passedthrough the programme. At the end of the visit, he and Mr Albandiscussed issues of concern to the unit such as its accommodationsbehind the public library, as well as other problems that affectthe unit such as truancy.
At the Community College, President Sam Basdeo said he plannedto discuss with the minister the demand for continuing, vocational,professional, and academic programmes in local higher education.
Pointing to increased enrolment levels in all areas of servicethat the college provides, Mr Basdeo noted that the increase hadstill been stronger in some programmes than in others, and saidhe would seek the minister's input on the matter.
Mr Bodden expects to visit local private schools and schools onCayman Brac in early 2001.