Hazel: 75 perCent of UNC pre-schools faulty

Manning was responding to criticism, during the Budget debate in the Senate on Tuesday evening, about the lack of ECCECs built during the last three years.

She said while the UNC built 38 new centres and upgraded 18, there were defects at 75 percent of the centres. She identified the range of problems as "unsatisfactory foundations, poor lighting and ventilation, falling ceiling tiles, no children-sized bathrooms, poor workmanship, no provision for the disabled students, no security, in some cases no water, electricity or phones were installed, and structures were not earthquake or hurricane resistant." Manning also said 40 percent of the centres were built in the Caroni area.

However, she pointed out that under her stewardship, there had been a 50 percent decrease in the issue of suspension notices to students, which was indicative of the decrease in school violence. In addition she said there had been an increase in students from Government and rural schools receiving full certificates at CXC and GCE exams.

The minister attributed the success to a number of initiatives instituted by the ministry. She said they will continue to be implemented to ensure the curricula is student-centred to produce results. She said curricula reform was the ministry’s highest priority during 2005.

Manning said the outcome of the programmes of her ministry was to "produce problem solvers and critical thinkers."

She said the modernisation of the secondary school curricula took place during 2004/2005. Forms Four and Five students received the new curricula in September this year. The curricula for Forms One to Three were now being revised.

The minister said emphasis will now also be placed on tech/voc subjects, with the Caribbean Vocational Qualifications (CVQ) being introduced to Forms Five and Six in 2007. The exam will be assessed by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC).

She said the CAPE examination, which is two years old, was producing amazing results, which showed that the exam had taken its position among other examinations.

Concerning the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) exams, the minister said there had been a reduction in the number of students scoring 30 percent or less. She said that number now stands at 8.4 percent, down by 7.4 percent from the 16 percent in 2002.

She also announced that students in primary schools will participate in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Survey (PIRLS) next year to measure their ability in exams and general training compared to other students worldwide. A pilot of the survey was conducted this year for students in Standards Two and Four in 20 schools.

The minister said another of its aims was to have 80 percent of students getting full certificates by 2010.

She pointed out that only 7,670 out of 50,639 students from the first group of students under the universal secondary education drive five years ago, who wrote the exams this year, got full certificates. This was compared to the 12,700 students who wrote exams in 1999/2000, of which 6,544 got full certificates.

Manning said in the GCE exams, 20 percent of the students in the 250 ranked were from this country.

As it pertained to the 50 percent drop in the issuance of suspension letters, Manning said the introduction of school safety officers also assisted greatly.

She said 163 officers were hired and deployed to 82 schools in Trinidad and nine in Tobago. Three out-of-school suspension centres were established from which 240 students benefited.

In terms of provision of meals, transportation and textbooks, the minister said millions more will be spent during this fiscal year.

She said $269 million will be spent to provide textbooks, inclusive of replacements. In 2004/2005 the sum spent was $49 million. The ministry is aiming to provide 153,000 meals daily at a cost of $206 million. In 2004/2005, 132,055 meals were provided to 813 schools at a cost of $150 million. And $50 million for seats on PTSC and maxi-taxis will be provided in this fiscal year. In 2004/2005, 4.5 million seats were provided at a cost of $34 million.