Education Minister: ‘Buy books’

Advising parents of Form III, IV and Lower XI to go ahead and purchase the necessary textbooks for their children, Education Minister Hazel Manning said when the money from the Government’s book grant became available, “it would then replace it (the money spent by parents).”

Speaking with Newsday yesterday from the Mucurapo Junior Secondary School, the Minister revealed that there were four core subject areas for which books had been approved for Forms I and II, under the Textbook Rental Loan Programme. Acknowledging that parents would be asking about the other books, Manning said, “There are about four subjects in the secondary school system that we have approved books for.” These four areas are Maths, Language Arts, Science and Spanish. Claiming that in approximately “two weeks or so,” notices would be released regarding the cards, she explained that books would also be provided in specific areas for primary school students as well. Sources at the Ministry of Education told Newsday a week ago that they would soon be releasing the rules and regulations governing the usage of the books under the Loan Programme.

Newsday understands that if the books issued to students under the Loan Programme were damaged in any way, their parents would be held responsible and will be required to pay for the book. Unlike last year, the books will now become the property of the school, and principals in the respective schools will have to develop a mechanism for transferring the books from one year group to another. The following books have been recommended and are going to be provided for primary school students under the programme “Provision of Textbooks for Primary Schools” in Reading — The TT New Republic Reader by Porter; Language Arts — Language Arts for the Caribbean  by Worral, Ward, Derrick, Ince and Forde; Maths — Primary Mathematics for Caribbean Schools by Furlonge, and Science — Let’s Learn Science by Singh. In addition, only Standard II students will receive a dictionary by Lindsay Knights and Andrew Dalhunty; while only Standard III students will be the lucky recipients of the Caribbean Junior Atlas (Third Edition).