Dear Editor,
As the new school year commences, I would like to wish all students the best for the year. I encourage you to be more focused than ever on your schoolwork. Allow me to share with you the words of A.A. Milne in Winnie the Pooh: Promise me you will always remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.
I say this knowing that 97 per cent of students, teachers and management will start the new school year under the same post-Irma conditions as 10 months ago, when schools were asked to reopen. Classroom roofs are still awaiting repairs, windows and doors waiting to be replaced and ceiling fans waiting to be fixed. Some of these schools also serve as shelters throughout the hurricane season.
It is for this reason that I urge the Romeo-Marlin II Cabinet, in particular Minister of Social Affairs Lee and Minister of Education Mr. Wycliffe Smith to place the repairs of our schools (those also serving as shelters) at the top of their priority list. While doing so, emphasis must be placed on building our schools, in particular our public schools, back better, based on new building criteria established during the Romeo-Marlin I Cabinet.
Finally, I pray for our teachers, that they will continue to educate our students while they handle their own personal matters related to Hurricane Irma. It is my hope that the committee that was put in place by the former Minister of Education in collaboration with the WITU [Windward Islands Teachers Union – Ed.] will review the bottlenecks our teachers are faced with on a daily basis as together we seek a solution for the lack of interest of our youth to choose the noble profession of educator. I am looking forward to the conclusions and recommendations of this committee.
Member of Parliament Tamara Leonard
