BUDGET EXCERPT
This 2019 Budget sets aside $137 million in recurrent spending on education, the largest budgeted allocation in recent history. Our army of trained and talented teachers continues to grow.
This Budget provides for additional teacher posts, particularly at the secondary school level. In keeping with the policy announced by the Honourable Prime Minister two years ago, 2019 will see the appointment of another 120 graduate teachers who earned their degree in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
This will cost an additional $2 million over the course of 2019.
This Budget stipulates that the Ministry of Works will receive $6 million for the upgrade of school premises and an additional $500,000 for the purchase of furniture and equipment.
This $6 million programme – the most allocated for school repair in almost 15 years – will significantly enhance the aesthetic, ergonomic and environmental quality of our schools and classrooms nationwide.
The school upgrade programme will take place during the long “summer” holidays between June and September.
Budget 2019 contains two additional capital projects of signal importance to the Education Revolution. First, the World Bank funded “Human Development Service Delivery Project” begins in earnest in 2019.
This project, when completed, will produce significant benefits in teacher training, special education, and technical and vocational education.
Second, with the support of the Caribbean Development Bank, our Technical and Vocational Education and Training Development Project enjoys a $4.3 million allocation in the 2019 Budget.
Further, the Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is in advanced negotiations with the Caribbean Development Bank for a separate loan to address more deep-seated structural challenges in our school stock.
The combination of these two upgrade programmes will markedly improve the learning environment, and the comfort of students and teachers.
