Basseterre, St. Kitts, September 5, 2022 (SKNIS): With the start of the 2022-2023 academic year on Monday, September 5, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, the Honourable Dr. Geoffrey Hanley, on August 2, 2022, held a meeting with senior officials within the Ministry of Education to discuss the way forward amongst other pertinent matters.
“I have a schedule of meetings with just about all the stakeholders in Education that I have started meeting with and now we are here with Senior Leadership which I would dub as the engine of the Ministry. I am excited at this time to be able to serve as your Minister of Education and I look forward to the support of each and every one of you. And, this afternoon is not in any formal setting, but it is an opportunity for people to listen to you, listen to the challenges you are facing in your various departments and also hearing of your many success stories. By doing this, it puts me in a position to be able to lobby for more on behalf of Education. We are fortunate at this time that not only am I the Minister of Education but I’m also the Minister with responsibility for the STEP Programme. Therefore, this gives us a great advantage of access to resources that you might not have readily around you,” said Minister Dr. Hanley.
During the meeting, Minister Dr. Hanley urged the senior officials present to be proactive in identifying areas in which their various departments would require support, noting that all the necessary support will be provided to ensure that all outlined objectives are achieved.
“It is imperative for you as senior leadership to look at each of the units that you manage and provide your wish list of those things you may need. Because we recognize not too many positions are available on the government establishment at this time and as we approach another cycle of our budget we know exactly how that goes, some of the persons we are trying to get now might very well be able to come on full-time next year. So, I give you the assurance that you should not need any support, we control that now. If you do not get it, it will be because you did not ask. So, I am eager to hear what you may have to say and the many recommendations and suggestions you might bring,” said the Minister of Education.
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