 Thank you Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker I rise to support the motion to transfer 5.4 million dollars from the Consolidated Fund to treat with some of the issues that we have to contend with in the wake of Tropical Storm Bread. But Mr Speaker before I speak on the motion I crave your indulgence and that of members in the House this morning to express condolences to a number of families in Dennery North who have suffered the loss of loved ones in recent times. The family of Bulut, the family of Tokman, the family of a very personal and dear friend Mr Speaker Niki of Belmont, the family of Stered, the family of Kiosk from Austin Hill, the family of Anthony and of course Miss Mildrina in Grand Ravine who has had to deal with some deaths in a family and there's so many other families Mr Speaker and the names do not all come to me at this point in time but I really want to express my condolences to those families and the collective condolences of the entire constituency of Dennery North to the families that are grieving. Mr Speaker it is also opportune for me to express congratulations to the constituency council of Dennery North and the Carnival Committee for pulling off a very successful 2023 valley carnival. Mr Speaker they did that against the odds. They were put to the sword Mr Speaker they were attacked on social media Mr Speaker and there were some forces at play that did everything conceivable to try and derail the efforts of the Carnival Committee and by extension the constituency council but at the end Mr Speaker they prevailed and I think they all should take a bow for having staged a very successful valley carnival. Mr Speaker moving forward it is my sincere hope that all of the acrimony the discord and the disagreements that preceded valley carnival can be ironed out and that next year Mr Speaker all the stakeholders irrespective of their political affiliation can come together for this one activity and portray our community in the light that it is meant to be portrayed. So notwithstanding the fact that the Carnival Committee was able to pull it off I believe valley carnival can be stronger and even better when all stakeholders irrespective of their differences can come together and to make it happen and this is what I'm hoping will Mr Speaker characterize valley carnival or valley mass 2024. Mr Speaker I also want to place on the record to congratulate the newly installed newly appointed chief education officer who's there in the chamber with us Ms Beverly Diodoni Mr Speaker hers is a very serious task and even the motion that is before the house Mr Speaker I thought it was necessary to have senior management personnel of the Ministry of Education in the chamber to absorb the debate and to have a greater appreciation for what the Prime Minister is doing this morning by allocating monies to help us meet some of the challenges we have in schools. Mr Speaker I must place on the record my sincerest expressions of congratulations to Senator Angelina Ferrapulius of Denry North Mr Speaker on the attainment of her doctorate. Dr Polio's achievement should serve as an inspiration for all young people of Denry North Mr Speaker that irrespective of what your circumstances would have been growing up if you have the determination to succeed Mr Speaker you can scale some heights in academia that at times can appear to be insurmountable and so today notwithstanding that she is a political adversary Mr Speaker I want to place on the record my congratulations to her and as I said I'm hoping that her achievement her academic achievement will serve as a source of inspiration for many young persons in the valley who aspire in to achieve the same. Mr Speaker that having been said Mr Speaker I will remain very vigilant as the parliamentary rep and as the chief custodian of the Labour Party's interest in Denry North. Mr Speaker on the 22nd of June this year tropical storm great slammed into St Lucia with maximum sustained winds of 65 miles an hour or 100 kilometers per hour as has become customary Mr Speaker with such weather events it inflicted damage on key sectors of our economy agriculture was Delta blue health infrastructure was impacted and Mr Speaker significantly a number of schools were damaged in the week of tropical storm break and Mr Speaker ours is a government that has placed a premium on education and we believe that at every opportunity we must give the children of St Lucia the most comfortable of environments within which they're learning must be facilitated and it is against that backdrop Mr Speaker that we are here this morning moving diligently to transfer monies from the consolidated funds to repair the schools that were damaged Mr Speaker approximately 22 schools were impacted by tropical storm break namely the Mogul Shkombine school the Vidbutai primary school the Ave Maria primary school Gordon and Walker formerly the Anglican school Bexar primary Miko primary shows a secondary force in Jack primary Souffre ICDC and library Souffre special ed Souffre infant school Souffre secondary school I think that's a one time the member of a Souffre Mr Speaker notwithstanding we are talking about damage in the aftermath of a tropical system it is yielding a smile from the member of a Souffre because she knows that her schools will be attended to moving on Mr. Speaker the viewport primary school the Belleville combined school Deborah combined school grossly they care as I combine then reprimary T. Roche combined bless her combine viewport post-secondary and the bus Laguas combined school those schools Mr. Speaker were amongst the most severely affected and the bulk of the money that we will be receiving from the Ministry of Finance will go Mr. Speaker towards rehabilitation of school infrastructure but in the communities that I have mentioned Mr. Speaker we have more than 100 educational institutions that we must maintain on an annual basis and in the estimates you would have seen a little more than three million dollars having been allocated for school rehabilitation in this country Mr. Speaker we've been able to manage that amount and use it very wisely to ensure that we treat the issues as the surface in schools Mr. Speaker we are under no illusion that three million dollars is not ideal but in the circumstances we in education understand we understand the situation that the country is in right now we know things will get much better than that than they are I am having improved in recent times and so Mr. Speaker I have at every opportunity implored the staff of the Ministry to maximize the output from the amounts that we have been given in the case of the viewport primary school Mr. Speaker the damage was pretty extensive and notwithstanding I would have been given a report by the permanent secretary and the deputy permanent secretary in the aftermath of the disaster I made it my business Mr. Speaker to travel to viewport on a Sunday with my camera to be able to appreciate and see for myself the extent of the damage and what we noticed Mr. Speaker it was not just the strength of the wind that created the damage but at the beams the metal beams from a school that had been constructed I think sometime after after Hurricane Allen there was quite a bit of corrosion and that was undermined with winds of approximately 60 miles an hour a concrete I always have permission from the member for viewport south Mr. Speaker I think we have a very cordial relationship that does not always manifest itself in the chamber but it does elsewhere and so I am under no pressure venturing into viewport I don't know if I don't know if other members in here can see the same Mr. Speaker but I always feel welcome in viewport so Mr. Speaker that particular school was severely affected the viewport primary school and Mr. Speaker we immediately dispatched our team to make the assessment we have preliminary amount Mr. Speaker as it relates to the viewport primary school and the work to be done is pretty extensive the one thing we have been able to do is to speak to some of the prospective contractors and to implore and impress upon them the need for them Mr. Speaker to work diligently and if it means that in some cases they have to work night and day they will have to because we do not want for there to be any disruption as it relates to the reopening of school Mr. Speaker the Bellevue combined school in viewport north was also damaged they suffered roof damage and this includes roof framing covering electricals and the ceiling and I did visit that school as I did for viewport south with this time the member for viewport north Mr. Speaker and in the presence of some of the staff we were able to have preliminary conversations right there on site in terms of giving a commitment that the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance will find the monies in time for the rehabilitation of that school and here we are today Mr. Speaker feeling vindicated that the Prime Minister through to form has found the money and this morning we are coming to the Parliament for approval to ensure that that the repairs are carried out as you would have promised the people Mr. Speaker the Moghush combined school was also badly damaged and I think I intimated that this morning to the member for Shwazel who at every opportunity in the Ministry of Education and I know it happens with other colleagues of mine on this side of the house we have tried to Mr. Speaker engage and include the member for Shwazel in the discussion as we discharge our duties and our functions to the members of his constituency so the the Moghush primary school Mr. Speaker has been impacted and work will commence on that school in quick time other severely impacted institutions or schools would have been the denry primary Mr. Speaker damage to windows quite a few of those windows have to be replaced and in these days when you you you talk about school rehabilitation and even construction of new schools Mr. Speaker it is not acceptable for you to just take a plan as we knew on logic with the DCA for approval but the nomenclature has changed and today we are talking about climate resilient infrastructure so the repairs that will be embarking on Mr. Speaker would not be done in such a way where we just replace what was damaged but we have to build back stronger and to ensure that whatever we put in there Mr. Speaker will be able to withstand whatever weather systems that come our way but Mr. Speaker this is part and parcel of the Ministry of Education preparing this country for the reopening of school in September the physical infrastructure is important but we are doing a lot more than just the customary rehabilitation of schools complemented by an additional two million to treat specifically with the damages inflicted by the tropical weather system Mr. Speaker as we speak in excess of four thousand laptops have been configured and they are ready to infiltrate the school system every child inform one Mr. Speaker as we speak today has been guaranteed a device that device has been programmed it has been charged and it is in safe keeping hoping that when each from one child in this country irrespective of the educational district irrespective of the parents political affiliation every single child will be issued a brand new laptop computer at orientation and we have agreed and we have agreed Mr. Speaker that no longer should we disrupt the term to have those ceremonies in the middle of September disrupting the programs of principles but at orientation we will make the devices available and of course there will be symbolic ceremonies than not to disrupt this course Mr. Speaker every single child in form one will be the recipient of a $500 three compliments the government of the ocean mr. Speaker every single child in this country whether you form one or form five this government has guaranteed 2.6 million dollars to pay the facilities fees mr. Speaker every child in the public school system in form five right in mathematics and English xxsx mr. Speaker the government has committed monies to pay cxsx mr. Speaker every teacher in the public school system has received an increase or will be receiving this month and this month an increase in the materials allowance as was promised by this prime minister and minister of finance mr. Speaker we are upgrading schools more than 150 more learners can now access early childhood education mr. Speaker because we have established nine pre-k classes within select schools in communities around the country and with the pre-k mr. Speaker as the name suggests pre-k in the garden these are young children who are transitioning from early childhood centers into mainstream education and we notice that there has been a significant drop in the national school population and we find excess space at some schools but mr. Speaker what we also take into consideration is that in addition to the excess capacity you have at schools we also pay close attention to the availability or lack of early childhood services in communities so in communities where we have the space and we realize there is a deficit in terms of early childhood services we move in quickly mr. Speaker to ensure that we establish the pre-k program and I was fortunate enough maybe two weeks ago to visit the setup in in mongouge in shuizel mr. Speaker and speaking with a technical officer telling how impressed I was with the setup the height of the the face basins because of course you're dealing if three four year olds mr. Speaker I mean the setup is just so inspiring it is just so pleasant mr. Speaker that the officer said to me wait till you see what is happening in other parts of the country so we are mr. Speaker taking early childhood education very seriously and only recently the prime minister and I in a very informal conversation gave the commitment that more resources will be pumped into early childhood education in the coming months mr. Speaker across the sector the primary and secondary school levels the government expands in excess of 2.2 million annually as I said earlier for facilities fees and this is something that we should never shy away mr. Speaker from German from echoing and for for repeating if only for effect mr. Speaker we must because the point has been made before that their parents in this country learning moon a pace our mr. Speaker love you turn one a machine cabinet you can do this is a machine passenger killer or since I say van peen kick out any a diamond lantern one sir a vannaka venect a van peen a couple of them put it all up learning moon can we play a better public way learning moon keep us a man I stay on paper by issue dT a commemoration moon sir you're funny so I create sustainable forms of employment for Daniel you're funny large on because you're para to avoid a good deal but I put a struggle delay for a stay on leave dwee not with standing up we've been able to provide assistance to quite a few, and the number of persons receiving social support from the government has expanded exponentially, Mr Speaker. The reality is that we still have people in our society who are struggling to make ends meet. And then you say to that individual who struggles to buy a pound of rice or a pound of sugar that you must find $100 or $150, in some cases $200 to pay facilities fees. It is against that backdrop that a government of conscience can say that we are abolishing Mr Speaker the facilities fees and the Minister of Finance can commit $2.6 million. Mr Speaker, we've had problems with school security, and sometimes, Mr Speaker, people react to the news when they notice the incidents where schools have been burglarised and things schools have been tampered with. Mr Speaker, we find ourselves in a very indelicate position. Monies that otherwise we would have taken to augment and to improve pedagogy or the teaching loading process, some of those monies, Mr Speaker, now have to be spent on the installation of cameras at school to help beef up security. So when you hear people looking to politicise crime and make it seem as if crime is a construct of this government, Mr Speaker, we have to be very, very careful. Because at the end of the day, when the criminals come and they are having a field in Mr Speaker, everybody is adversely impacted. When they burglarise the school, I am certain in every school in this country, we have children who come from homes that support all the political parties of this country. So here's an opportunity for us once again, Mr Speaker, to implore not just the members in this honourable house, but all patriots and responsible citizens of this country to speak in one voice in denouncing criminal activity. It pains me, Mr Speaker, for the Ministry of Education to have to take 200, 300, 400 thousand dollars that we could have used to do so much more in the school system. But instead, Mr Speaker, we have to procure CCTV cameras and other security devices to provide security. But that having been said, that is not me in any way trying to diminish the importance of security. Of paramount importance to me as Minister and the Parliamentary Secretary and this government and senior management personnel in the Ministry is the safety and the security of the teachers, the students and the ancillary staff in the education system. Mr Speaker, we are going big on increasing access to higher education. This administration has promised to work towards having one university graduate in every household. And Mr Speaker, we are keeping this promise. We have seen the scholarship offerings so our students increased significantly over the past two years and we expect, Mr Speaker, more students will access tertiary level education under the first generation and the Unipass initiative. The first generation we've spoken about here before, Mr Speaker, where we are programming specifically for individuals who are coming from homes and families where we have never had a university graduate. It cannot be right and progressive in a country where some people can get by because they have the means and others who have the aptitude, who have the capabilities they are stagnated because the socioeconomic circumstances do not allow them, Mr Speaker, to move forward. We are bridging that gap and last year we enrolled 51st generation scholars at Monroe College, Mr Speaker, and in the next few weeks another cohort of 50 will also enroll to complement the 17 Monroe Scholarships. But we have gone further, Mr Speaker. We have listened to the cries of people studying online, particularly those enrolled with the open campus of the University of the West Indies. And the point was made and the question has been asked. But if we are doing so much in partnership with Monroe, what about the University of the West Indies? And our government, Mr Speaker, will not shy away. We will not shy away from telling this honorable House and by extension the people of this country and the region that we have a responsibility to the University of the West Indies, one of the best institutions in the world. And it's against that backdrop, Mr Speaker, against that backdrop, we had a cabinet conclusion written approximately a month and a half, two months ago, where persons who are enrolled with the University of the West Indies open campus, they can now apply for assistance, Mr Speaker, with their programs, hoping that the government can meet them halfway and they can successfully complete. Mr Speaker, we have an initiative that we just launched recently, UNIPAS, University Package of Assistance for Student Success. Mr Speaker, we believe that for a small island developing state, we do not have bauxite, we do not have oil, we do not have mineral resources, Mr Speaker. The quality of your human resource base, more than anything else, will determine whether we survive in a globally competitive environment, whether we think or whether we lag behind countries of similar circumstances in the same space looking to improve the lot of their people. So, Mr Speaker, the Ministry of Education has received and continues to receive a sizable chunk of the national budget. Mr Speaker, it was the Ministry of Education under the Labour Party Administration that ushered in universal secondary education. And a member for View for itself, who was the Prime Minister at the time, and Justice Michelle, who was the Minister of Education at the time, when the conversation started on universal secondary education in this country, that was met with a lot of opposition by people who ought to have known better. Mr Speaker, that was resisted and it was being done at a time when in some parts of the world they had moved so far ahead of us that the conversation at the national level was about universal university education. But here we were in St. Lucia, arguing and debating and looking to oppose universal secondary education. Education has always been, Mr Speaker, at the forefront of the programming of Labour Party governments, not just now, but in times past. Because we understand what education can do. We understand how we can cause somebody to improve their lot in life. We understand how we can take a child who is from humble circumstances, Mr Speaker, in beginnings and propel that child into positions of influence where their ability will be given expression, notwithstanding what they would have had to endure in their formative lives. Mr Speaker, that the young people who are working here today, that the Prime Minister has spent approximately $5 million off-budget to put together an emergency fund to help you go to school that is damaged by tropical storm that is a good thing. And I think it's only because of the Minister of Education that he has made a bad statement. But Mr Speaker, that is still the case with the Prime Minister and the government who have come here to help us, that we have put money in school because we understand how education can do. And we know more than any other country that has given us education, that has determined, that has paid us as we have come here. Now we have to admit to this, Mr Speaker, with the tax of tax, with the money being spent to do the aid of the tax. We have to admit that the tax is under our own money to do the aid of the tax. But Mr Speaker, we will do it after this. Now we have to admit to this, Mr Speaker. With the money being spent, I think this is how I do that, even with all the money being spent on the abode of the tax, I am not here to talk about Chime, but this is something that I have never thought about. But we campaigned on the mantra of putting people first. And any government or any country that spends and invests money in the education of its children is a government and a country that is on the right path. And so Mr. Speaker, with this very brief contribution, I lend my support unequivocally to the motion to transfer $5.4 million from the Consolidated Fund to the Contingency Fund to finance repairs to the schools that I just mentioned. Mr. Speaker, I believe the money will be well spent, the money will be well managed and I have a very dedicated team of officers in the Plant and Equipment Unit of the Ministry of Education of course being expertly guided by the Deputy Permanent Secretary and I'm hoping that the enthusiasm of the new chief education officer when you take that Mr. Speaker and it complements what obtains at the moment it will make for a more effective Ministry of Education, it will make for more comfortable schools and it will make for better learning environments for our children so that they can rise irrespective of where in this country they are from to realize their potential Mr. Speaker, get the education that they deserve and when they get to an age where it is time for transitioning to higher education we will find the scholarship opportunities for those who don't have the means and hopefully Mr. Speaker upon graduation they will take the rightful leadership places in this country and we can sit back and feel vindicated that we made the right decisions at the right times for the advancement of our country. Thank you Mr. Speaker, I support the motion.