Education Minister: UNC neglected TT’s children

By Clint Chan Tack Saturday, September 1 2007

EDUCATION MINISTER Hazel Manning on Tuesday slammed the Opposition UNC for neglecting the nation’s children during their six years in office and critictising the PNM for doing nothing for education.

Speaking during the Budget debate in the House of Representatives, Manning said the UNC’s idea of early childhood education was to place three and four year-old children in “sheds” and enlisting community groups through questionable processes to build their version of early childhood education centres (ECCEs).

“There is no comparison between the centres that we found in 2002 (when PNM assumed office) with their (UNC) shoddy workmanship and inadequate furnishings and those we provide today,” she declared. She said while the ECCE construction “roll out programme had its teething problems, it is now moving full speed ahead and Government has spent $63M on the programme to date.

She said seven centres were opened between April and this month, 33 were in varying stages of construction, 18 were expected to be ready by December 31 and another 100 would be ready by the end of 2008.

“We have identified 351 sites and mobilised at 350 sites of which 65 are located in poor areas.

Your (UNC) Government did not care about poor people,” Manning declared to vigorous desk-thumping from the Government benches.

She drew some gasps from the UNC MPs when she said the ECCEs were being built at an estimated cost per centre ranging from $1.7 to $2.7 M, depending on site conditions, by the Education Facilities Company Ltd which was formerly chaired by PNM treasurer Andre Monteil.

The minister chastised the UNC for trying to pass off the initiatives in the PNM’s 1993 to 2003 Education Policy Document as their own.

“Over the period 2002 to 2006, we spent approximately $377M on textbooks. The UNC spent none. On school meals, we spent $443M. The UNC spent none. On school transport, we spent $112M. How much did the UNC spend?” she declared.

Mrs Manning said Government was meeting the full cost of students with special education needs at 20 private special schools and this means that “11 special schools now benefit.”

She added that while the UNC only spent eight percent of an Inter-American Development Bank loan for the Secondary Modernisation Education Programme (SEMP) during its time in office, the PNM has spent 60 percent of that loan to date.

Manning said this country has moved closer to full school day schooling because Government has de-shifted 17 junior secondary schools and ten senior comprehensive schools to date.

Now that is fockin nigga mentality for you.

The solution to every nigga problem is money. Health failing? Pump money. Security, Education et al, just pump fockin money and all the problems will be solved.

The question now is after pumpin so much fockin money bright Hazel. How come we only churning out a setta fockin bandits, criminals and rapists in the mudder cont schools. Children leave school much more fockin duncee than when the UNC was in office? As I said before when you want to scare ah nigga or when one come to teef at your home, just take out ah book and you'll see how fast the focker will scatter.

Yeah UNC really didnt care about poor children, that is why all yuh dont want to open the fockin Biche High School and suffering the poor fockin children from the rural areas.

Stupid niggas.