During his most recent budget address Prime Minister Allen Chastanet said: “I do not think I am betraying any state secrets by admitting that over the years our education system has become unresponsive to our national development goals and the personal ambitions of our students. This is not a condition that began yesterday or in 2016, but it is a situation we must act on now if we are to move our nation forward with confidence, and if our young people are to fulfill their dreams while becoming productive builders of our society.”
He went on: “The Centres of Excellence in Sport and the Arts and Culture will provide non-traditional but important avenues for students to realize their full potential while receiving a sound secondary level education.”
In September, the Centre of Excellence in Sport will see its first term and no one is more excited about that than Education Minister Dr. Gale Rigobert, who this week informed the STAR that this won’t stop with the former Gros Islet Secondary School, and that two more centres are on their way.
Said the minister: “Whereas Gros Islet seems to be maturing first we do have the explicit intention to do similarly with Anse Ger Secondary School and in the longer term with Grande Riviere Secondary School.” She said the Anse Ger Secondary School has been earmarked to become the Centre of Excellence for Creative Arts and Culture, while the Grande Riviere Secondary is to become a Centre of Excellence for Agriculture.
After praising Anse Ger Secondary for its commitment to the arts, Rigobert promised that “the consultations will now happen in earnest and we will go through a process similar to what we did with Gros Islet to bring Anse Ger to fruition in good time.”
While stressing that the transition of Grande Riviere into a Centre of Excellence for Agriculture has still not gotten to its embryonic stage, Rigobert nevertheless was excited to announce this latest bit of news: “I can say to you with some degree of confidence that in the loan or grant that we are currently negotiating with the CDB, [Caribbean Development Bank] which you will hear more of in the coming months, we have asked that a financial provision be made for us to look at the transition of Grande Riviere into a Centre of Excellence for Agriculture.”
As for the former Gros Islet Secondary turned Centre of Excellence for Sport, Rigobert said: “It seems to be one of the few things in this country that has not suffered the acrimony of politics that can sometimes poison even the best and well thought out intentions.“
