Govt moves to build 42 early childhood care centres

AFTER three years of failing to build Early Childhood Care and Education Centres (ECCEC), the Ministry of Education is now moving with haste to achieve this goal this fiscal year, in keeping with promises made in the Budget. But questions are being raised about the cost of each centre. In the very first advertisement of the Education Facilities Company Limited (EFCL) — a company formed to assist the ministry in delivering projects — the company invited tenders for pre-qualification to construct centres across Trinidad, but not Tobago. The advertisement which appeared in yesterday’s edition of Newsday reiterated Government’s commitment to provide 600 centres by the year 2010. It said the construction will be in phases, the first of which will see construction of 42 centres during this fiscal year, in four regions in Trinidad — north, south, central and east.

The ad stated the EFCL intends to invite tenders from November 2, and the closing date for submission of tenders is October 28. Sites listed for the centres are: (North) — Child Welfare League, St James, Chinapoo Primary, Diego Martin Primary, Kilimanjaro in Petit Valley and Wesleyan Holiness; South — Christian Union, Clarke Rochard Primary, Cocoyea Primary, Corinth Teachers’ College, Coterie of Social Workers, Fanny Village Primary, Iere Village Primary, La Romaine Primary, Macaulay Primary, Marabella Primary, Model Nursery School, North Trace, Penal Quinam Primary, Pleasantville Primary, San Pedro, Santa Flora Primary and Ste Madeleine Primary; East — El Socorro North and South primary, La Horquetta North Primary, Lower Cumuto Primary, Mt D’or Primary, Salybia Primary, Sangre Grande Primary, St Augustine Primary, Tacarigua and Valsayn Teachers’ College; And in Central — Brothers Road, Child Welfare League, Edinburgh Primary, Madras Primary, Monroe Road Primary, Preysal Primary, Ragoonanan Road Primary, Sevilla and Strange Village.

Ministry officials recently stated there will be several models of the centres namely those that stand alone as Government centres; cluster centres — that is those on the same compound of government primary schools; traditional centres — which are in partnership with denominational school boards and those centres established with special providers like Servol. The ministry is also moving to prepare the childhood providers with proper training for the implementation of the standards for the regulating of the centres. In another ad, which also appeared in yesterday’s Newsday, the ministry said a series of workshops will be held from today until the end of the month, dealing with registration and licensing of centres, staffing, record keeping, health and safety and quality early childhood practices. A total of 2,206 providers are listed to attend the workshops.

Meantime, Opposition Member of Parliament for Siparia Kamla Persad-Bissessar is questioning the cost of each of these centres. Speaking last Friday in the House of Representatives during the Budget debate, the former education minister said under the UNC, the centres were being constructed at a cost of $225,000 each. She said that cost was dismissed as being too cheap by Education Minister Hazel Manning, who had indicated that the centres were to be built at $400,000 each. Persad-Bissessar said the figure was then hiked to $700,000 each and asked, “how much is it now?” Manning who was present in the House did not respond.

Persad-Bissessar said since 2002, the Education Ministry was promising to build centres. In that year, a promise to build 30 were made, in 2003/2004, 43 were promised, in 2004/2005, 43 were again promised and this year Prime Minister Patrick Manning has promised that 50 centres will be built and 100 early childhood teachers trained.