ANDROS, Bahamas -- Minister of Education, the Hon Desmond Bannister wrapped up a two-day visit to North and Central Andros with a meeting of parents and community leaders at the North Andros High School during the week of September 6.

During his visit, Minister Bannister initially toured all schools in the district and met with students, teachers and administrators to access the educational landscape and address concerns of the respective groups.

The Minister went into classrooms and participated in ongoing lessons as well as engaged the students in general knowledge quizzes on The Bahamas. He also left the students with words of encouragement and told them to take advantage of the opportunity that they have to acquire an education.

He also shared with them his pride in being a native of Andros and the legacy of many other Androsians who have contributed to national building namely the late Clarence A Bain, Dame Marguerite Pindling, and his parliamentary colleague, the Hon Vincent Peet, Member of Parliament for the North Andros and Berry Islands constituency.

Mr Peet accompanied Minister Bannister on the tour and joined him in uplifting students and educators at each stop.

During the visit, Minister Bannister addressed concerns by the parents whose children attend schools in Central Andros. He appealed for their assistance in promoting the importance of education to their children and not leaving this responsibility solely to teachers. Additionally, he called for them to support his ban of cell phones on schools campuses for the protection of teachers and students.

Parents also expressed their concerns relative to education in Andros. They raised issues such as the need to complete the track at Central Andros High School; constructing bathrooms for teachers at the Fresh Creek Primary School; assigning more teachers for specialized courses at the high school level, and the need for a Special Education teacher in the Andros District.

Minister Bannister was candid in his responses to the parents stating that educational priorities and a limited capital works budget prohibited the track from being completed at this time. He indicated that he had an obligation to ensure that the children in Spanish Wells and Inagua received the much-needed classrooms they urgently required.

He also told them that as soon as the funds became available the track would be surfaced but the reality is that it cannot be dealt with at this time.

On the matter of specialized teachers and a special needs teacher, he pointed out that unfortunately those types of teachers are not available.

Minister Bannister said many Bahamians who were entering The College of The Bahamas to pursue degree in education, were doing general studies or subjects that were over-subscribed. This resulted in the Government going abroad to recruit teachers to teach Mathematics, Sciences and work with special needs children.

“This has caused the Ministry of Education to henceforth issue teaching scholarships to persons whose goals are aligned with the national goals,” the Minister said.

Minister Bannister added that this decision has not been favourably accepted by students and their parents who have an interest in law and medicine degrees, but the Government has to take this stance to ensure that the country has teachers in the future to educate the Bahamian population.

The parents expressed their ‘buy-in’ of the Ministry of Education’s theme for the 2010/2011 school year: “Parents, Students, Schools: A Winning Combination for Excellence in Education.”

On the second day of his visit, Minister Bannister went to schools in North Andros, once again rallying teachers and students and observing the lesson offerings at the institutions.

During his stop at the Red Bays Cay School he held an impromptu meeting with parents of the remote school who showed up to air their concerns.

He addressed the matter of an expatriate teacher whose contact was renewed by the Ministry of Education when it was feasible to replace the individual with a Bahamian.

Minister Bannister also addressed the issues of security and maintenance of the school campuses and gave the parents an honest picture of the educational budget.

The final stop of the Minister’s tour was the North Andros High School where students waited pass the 3:00 pm dismal of school to hear as the Minister praised them for their success in the recent BJC and BGCSE examinations.

Several of the students sat their exams in the 11th grade and attained five or more with C and above grades. Minister Bannister told the students that they ranked third in the nation in the BGCSE exams and that he expected an improvement in the results next year.

The Minister is expected to visit other Family Island districts between September and December 2010.

 

Captions

Classroom

Education Minister the Hon Desmond Bannister and the Member of Parliament for the North Andros and Berry Islands Constituency the Hon Vincent Peet encourage students at the Nicolls Town Primary School.

Head Boy

Education Minister the Hon Desmond Bannister poses with Valtio Cooper, Head Boy at North Andros High School who attained five BGCSE passes with C and above grades in grade 11.