The Tribune

INSTEAD of a doubling in the 2012/2013 public education budget as promised, the PLP delivered nothing but more "double-talk", FNM Senator Desmond Bannister said.

Speaking in the Senate yesterday, the former Minister of Education said: "No matter what fancy language they use, Madam President, members opposite promised the Bahamian people, and the Bahamian people understood them to promise, that they would double the investment in education.

"The truth of the matter is that any way that you slice it, this budget does not come close. So now, instead of a doubled budget, all we get is double-talk on the issue. It is a well documented promise.

"At one time they even said that they would triple the education budget. However, Madam President, with all of this talk and double-talk, what do we get for education? Department of Education increased less than three per cent, BTVI decreased by approximately three per cent, Ministry of Education increased by approximately three per cent, and COB increased by approximately one per cent."

Mr Bannister pointed out that the total dollar increase for the Ministry of Education amounts to $9,195,672 over last year's budget of $268,472,382. Of that increase, $5,000,098 is earmarked for salaries and allowances.

"So Madam President, the Bahamian people have every right to be disappointed at this turnabout. The PLP has failed to deliver even on their revised promises of a $22 million annual increase.

"Teachers and administrators are disappointed. Even the Minister of Education has a right to be disappointed. He was optimistic that his government would deliver for him (Tribune. May 24, 2012).

"Madam President, I say that a promise is a promise, and I ask members opposite to please give the Bahamian people and the Minister of Education what you promised them for education in the Bahamas.

"You see, Madam President, we need to continue building and enhancing our schools. The former Prime Minister, Hubert Ingraham, was the most prolific school builder in the history of our country.

"The FNM built 12 schools in 10 years, after the PLP had failed to build any in many years. Among them: Simms Primary, Long Island, Central Abaco Primary, the Sir Gerald Cash Primary School, the Garvin Tynes Primary School, the Maurice Moore Primary School, the Hugh Campbell Primary School, the Cleveland Eneas Primary School, the Sadie Curtis Primary School, the CV Bethel Senior High School, the Sir Jack Hayward High School, the Doris Johnson High School, and the St Georges High School."

During the FNM's last term in office, Mr Bannister said, they completed the TG Glover school and the Anatol Rodgers School, each project having run over budget to the tune of $5 million under the PLP.

"There are so many other needs in education. The FNM made a commitment to providing a teacher's aide to children in grades one through three in our public schools throughout the Bahamas.

"We recognised the critical role that aides play in assisting with the educational development of our children. We realised that the presence of aides in the classroom gave teachers a better opportunity to focus on the unique needs of all children under their care.

"Unfortunately, Madam President, this budget provides for an increase in the establishment of only one teacher aide post. Moreover, all of the teacher's aides who were hired under the government's temporary jobs initiative have now been advised that their contracts of employment will not be renewed.

"So, Madam President, instead of putting more teacher's aides in the schools to enhance the educational development of our children, this new government now says that they will bring the police into the schools.

"Madam President that is unfortunate, and I hope that the government will give the Minister of Education some contingency funding to hire more Teacher's Aides to assist our children.

"Secondly, Madam President, we know that many of our lower performing primary schools are in inner city neighborhoods. One of the difficulties that these children face is that so many of them come to school without a proper breakfast, or without any breakfast at all.

"The same is true in many of our Family Islands, Madam President. When a child comes to school without breakfast that child is at an immediate disadvantage. They cannot concentrate properly. They cannot think. They cannot compete. They are more likely to cause disruptions in the school day.

"That's why, Madam President, the FNM committed to providing breakfast in school to children in need throughout this country.

"We appreciated that by simply providing breakfast to children at school we would be taking positive steps to break the cycle of poverty that has followed certain families for generations.

"Some of our service clubs have recognised the need and are now providing breakfast for children at some of our schools, but resources do not permit them to do this on a sufficiently regular or widespread basis.

"Madam President, our children deserve to have the opportunity to learn. I ask the government to please put people over politics and provide the funding in the education budget to sustain this worthwhile initiative so that our schoolchildren throughout this country can start their day with a wholesome breakfast," he said.

One suggestion, Mr Bannister said, would be to take the new $3,679,570 that is allocated for food under Head 44, item 612300 and use those funds to create a school breakfast programme.

"That would be a worthwhile investment in the future of our children. Unfortunately, Madam President, that suggestion is probably too simple a solution.

"Members opposite will probably not utilise it for a school breakfast programme, since they will have to deal with the many claims that will face Social Services from the temporary workers whose contracts they refuse to extend. They prefer to keep Bahamians dependent on them and to give them fish rather than to teach them to fish and permit them to chart their own futures," he said.