Education in SVG undergoing a paradigm shift – King

Curtis King, the Minister of Education, has spoken about a “paradigm shift “ in education, during his contribution to the debate on the 2024 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure.

The $1.6 billion pre-budgetary package was laid in Parliament on Tuesday, December 19 by Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves.

In debating the Estimates, King said the package was brought to Parliament “at a time when education is experiencing what we will call a paradigm shift.”

He said globally, some persons may refer to what is happening to education “as a transformation in the education system…. Educators and policy makers worldwide are in the process of reviewing and reimagining the pre pandemic models and practices in education.”

King explained that all of this is being done “with a view to enhance the delivery“ of services to students.

While admitting to the many challenges in education, the minister said this is so “because we are on the path to recovery after the great health pandemic of 2019-2020,” internationally.

Here at home, the education minister explained that we were challenged by the impacts of natural disasters and right now, “there are many challenges before us.”

“But we can’t give up… that is not an option for us; we must not be daunted. Instead, we should confront these challenges with a determination and optimism, that will inspire hope and confidence in our young people.”

He said the financial package that was presented on Tuesday, is not intended “to cause our people to give up, but to offer hope despite the many challenges.”

King said a debt of gratitude is owed to the Minister of Finance Camillo Gonsalves and his team, for ensuring that the Ministry of Education is allocated the necessary resources to implement in programs for the year 2024.

Based on figures in the Estimates, the Ministry of Education and National Reconciliation has been allocated $129.9 million in Recurrent Expenditure.

There is a further $23.1 million allocated for that ministry in the Capital Budget, brining the total to $153 million.

King said this total figure represents a 2.08 per cent increase over the 2023 allocation.

Based on the sizeable amount allocated to Education, the minister said this is “testimony of this government to education, and the development of the human resource capacity of our citizens.”

“This investment in education represents… about 12.6 per cent of the overall Budget.”

According to Minister King, it also represents “the third largest allocation in the 2024 Estimates.”

Among the many projects to be implemented in the coming year, is the construction of a Technical Vocational Centre on Union Island.

King said the sum of $1 million is allocated for the construction of this centre, which will expose students in the Southern Grenadines to technical skills.

The constituency of East St George will also benefit from another million dollar investment for the construction of a secondary school in that constituency.