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by pltm
(PLTM) - Premier and Minister for Finance, Hon. Andrew Fahie has referred to the situation of having the students go to school on a shift system, more than a year later, as “criminal”, and he announced that the current school situation has had negative effects on the students.
Hon. Fahie made the comments in relation to questions from Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Marlon Penn during the May 17 sitting of the House of Assembly.
In noting that another school arrangement should have been arranged sooner, the Premier told Hon. Penn, “Member, there is no excuse and member since you pushed me to say it, I think that leaving them up there so long is criminal.”
The Premier announced that the ongoing shift system has social side effects. He told the House of Assembly, “Social ills have increased by the children going school half day, and people trying to fool big people that going to school half day you were getting the same education as if you were going school whole day.”
The Premier noted that the negative issues are being brought to his attention and he was compelled to remedy the situation by ensuring that the L-shaped school building will be ready to resume whole day school in September.
In noting the matters that were brought to his attention, the BVI Leader said, “We have seen Mr. Speaker, more and more of these videos and when you look at the time of the fights, it's usually coming on in the afternoon when they are on the road...We have contributed through not making decisions in the leadership; we have contributed to the social decay of the school and the children.”
“To get those children off the streets for September will call for flexing of the Protocols of Effective Financial Management. Member, I made the call because more of our young ladies are ending up pregnant…People could say that they could have their fun anytime, but the devil finds work for idle hands, especially in the afternoons when they're done at midday and they gone. The other set out on the street midday waiting to come in. I am not negative to this happening at the initial stage,” he further explained.
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