PACT commits over $200M per 12 months for training
<img data-attachment-id="97718" data-permalink="https://caymannewsservice.com/2021/12/pact-commits-over-200m-per-year-for-education/john-gray-high-school-campus/" data-orig-file="https://i2.wp.com/caymannewsservice.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/John-Gray-High-School-campus.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1" data-orig-size="600,400" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="John Gray High School campus" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="
John Gray High School campus
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(CNS): The Department of Education accounts for more than 20% of the total annual budget for 2022 as the government allocated over $ 200 million to education, including grants and school building expenses, which is the highest amount for any single department. Minister Juliana O’Connor-Connolly said education is the most important aspect of the country’s development and there needs to be a “noticeable absence of politics”.
During last week’s budgetary debate, the Minister welcomed the support for this budget, not only from PACT but also from the opposition. She outlined what she will be spending the money on and talked about the investment projects and the plan to put an assistant teacher in each grade school up to 9th grade to contribute to the high budget.
During the finance committee, O’Connor-Connolly said that entering the system would identify more students with special needs, and while there are a sufficient number of SEN staff, hiring assistant teachers will go a long way in helping classroom teachers do better manage all of the children’s learning needs.
The minister said there were a variety of reasons for this apparent increase in children with special needs and that it was not a static situation, but more support from teaching in the classrooms would help achieve policies that no child is left behind .
In 2022, the government will spend over $ 33.3 million on primary education, nearly $ 33.5 million on secondary education, and another $ 11.6 million on students with special needs.
The department will also spend nearly CI $ 7.5 million on the groundbreaking new free public school lunch program that aims to make a radical difference to families in need by ensuring that breakfast, snacks and lunch are properly supplied to children every weekday.
The decision to care for all children was supported across political boundaries to avoid the degradation and stigma of means testing.
Meanwhile, CI $ 45.3 million will be spent on education-related investment projects over the next year, including graduating from John Gray High School, which will be ready for students next year. The government also plans to expand the Lighthouse School and build a new classroom for Red Bay Primary and another school building for Layman Scott High School on Cayman Brac.
O’Connor-Connolly also announced plans to have a three-year-old kindergarten in every state elementary school.
The Minister of Education spoke about how the significant investment in education is starting to pay off through improving school inspection and exam scores, better behavior in schools and more students benefiting from the generous scholarship awards.
She said she will continue to remove any barriers that come up to provide the best possible education for the country’s children.
The minister also appealed to parents, pointing out that schools only have their children for a third of the day. Given the government’s investment in students and teachers, parents must also do their part by devoting time to their own children, she said.
