Education Ministry Gives Thanks

The Ministry of Education held an evening of appreciation on Monday, 25 April, at Prospect Primary School, thanking those involved in getting the school system back on its feet following Hurricane Ivan. Among those attending were His Excellency the Governor Mr Bruce Dinwiddy CMG, the Hon Chief Secretary Mr George McCarthy, Minister for Education the Hon Roy Bodden, and Permanent Secretary for Education Mrs Joy Basdeo, along with education officials and staff and other distinguished guests.

Mrs Basdeo said: “It was nothing short of miraculous that we began opening schools on 21 October, (a process) continuing into November when all our students were back in school.” Attributing this achievement to a number of private sector supporters and other government departments, she gave specific thanks to the Public Works Department and their project managers.

Special mention also went to the teachers’ dedication -- 82 of whom were homeless after the storm. “The fact that our teachers stayed and worked tirelessly doing the cleaning and sorting in wet, dirty and mouldy conditions is a tribute to the teaching profession, and I could never praise them enough,” said Mrs Basdeo.

“Every report I read from the outside commends the education service for the fact that schools opened six weeks after the hurricane. This fact has been very important in re-establishing investor confidence in our economy and in encouraging the thousands of people who left before and after Ivan to return. By September 2005, the school system will be better than ever and we predict no lasting adverse effect on the continuity of our students’ education,” Mrs Basdeo concluded.

Similar appreciation functions have already been held, one on 8 October 2004 for teachers, followed by one for Cayman Brac Schools on 25 March.