Oral question for Minister of Transport

 Can the Honorable Minister of Transport indicate what plans, if any, are in
place for the implementation of a subsidy to students in uniform?

Question 3

Put in place contingency plan for natural disasters, pandemic etc. which
results in displacement of students, teachers etc., so that the country stays
resilience in its ability to adapt to resulting challenges?

Question 10

In Regulation 26 2d,

Remove the phrase: including the instrument, if any, which may be used for
corporal punishment;

Corporal punishment is a form of child abuse: psychologically, as well as

physically. It also sends out the message that violence is socially acceptable, which
is entirely the wrong message to be giving out. You can't prevent violence with
violence. It doesn't work.

regulation 2 {g{, concerning the terms of employment of teachers including

grading, promotion, leave, and payment of salaries and other remuneration so far
as they are not prescribed by this Act or any other law;…

Add, that the St Vincent union of teachers be officially recognized as the

bargaining body for all its members, and therefore be given the status accordingly.

Regulations 2 {j} prescribing the cases in which, and the matters for which, fees
may be charged in learning institutions; be erased.
Throughout the school year, parents are asked to pay for team uniforms,
tournaments, field trips, lunches, caution fees, parent teachers association
subscription, and probably more. These costs are on top of school supplies,
like calculators and notebooks.
Public schools across St. Vincent and the Grenadines charge fees to cover a
wide variety of expenses, and many parents who can afford to pay may be
willing to hand over the cash.

My research, however, shows that policies and dominant ideas about good

parenting compel parents to hand their money over to their children’s schools,
even when they feel they shouldn’t have to. Parent involvement, school council
and school choice policies common in St, Vincent, and elsewhere promote the
idea that parents are responsible for doing whatever it takes to ensure their
children’s success in school and, more broadly, in a competitive society.

But not every family can bear the financial costs, so their children may miss
out on opportunities that wealthier kids enjoy. Paying school fees may be
optional, but enabling parents who pay to get more benefits for their kids
undermines St. Vincent ministries of education’s commitments to equality of
educational opportunity and inclusion for all.