Education Minister Anthony Garcia is welcoming the call for a better education system as suggested by President Paula-Mae Weekes during the President’s Medal Award Ceremony 2018 Tuesday at NAPA.
“Her Excellency’s view is shared by us at the Ministry as it coincides with the work that the Ministry is currently carrying out to improve the education system," Minister Garcia said.
He added: "We have been able to, over the past three years, not only shift our focus to prioritizing literacy, numeracy and penmanship for all of our school-aged children, but also provide our students with the opportunity to excel in sports as well as the visual and performing arts. We have emphasised the importance of holistic teaching and learning and this is being reflected in the outcomes of our students. In this past academic year, we recorded the best performance in ten (10) years”.
A statement by the Ministry of Education says it continues to work tirelessly to ensure access, quality and equity in education for all students.
The ministry says it is currently in the process of refining a revised Education Policy aimed at the effective governance and administration of the education system; access to educational opportunities by all learners; and provision of quality education at all levels.
"This is the outcome of a three-day National Consultation on Education in 2016, where stakeholders in both Trinidad and Tobago were engaged and concerns and recommendations on the way forward were collated and taken to Cabinet," the statement added.
It said the policy was recently taken to stakeholders again for a final review to ensure that the concerns raised in 2016 have been adequately addressed.
A final draft will be presented to Cabinet in the coming weeks for approval prior to implementation.