Universal Secondary Education begins

Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has described Monday, August 5, 2005, the day when Universal Secondary Education was put into effect in this country, as a very historic day for St.Vincent and the Grenadines.

Now, every child who sets the Common Entrance Examinations has the opportunity to pursue a secondary school education.{{more}}

“This is a remarkable achievement,” said Prime Minister Dr. Gonsalves as he beamed with joy.

He remarked that his administration had come to office to provide an opportunity for every single child and noted that shortly after the Unity Labour Party (ULP) took power in 2001, it set about laying the basis for Universal Secondary Education.

Universal Secondary Education is part and parcel of the Education Revolution currently taking place in the country, said Dr. Gonsalves. He disclosed that in order to make the programme a success, 90 teachers have been employed. He said this is the most that have been employed since “conquest and settlement”.

Foreign Minister Mike Browne, until recently the Minister of Education, and Clayton Burgin, who had been Browne’s deputy until a cabinet reshuffle elevated him to full minister status in the Ministry of Education, came in for high commendations from Dr. Gonsalves.

“I say to you with every conviction in my body that a government that fails its 12-year-olds is a government that has failed its people,” said Prime Minister Gonsalves.

Dr. Gonsalves said that every child now has a chance of attaining secondary education and he asked them to grab the opportunity with open arms.