Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Science and Technology, the Hon. Chester Cooper led a delegation of education officials on a readiness tour of schools in Grand Bahama on Monday. Minister for Grand Bahama, the Hon. Ginger Moxey was also in attendance.
Mr. Cooper spoke with reporters about the ministry’s focus on special education. He said, “there are perhaps thousands of students across the islands of The Bahamas waiting to be assessed, who’ve been referred by their teachers or their principals and the Director of Education has taken on the mandate to ensure that all of these assessments are completed.
Among the schools visited by the minister were Jack Hayward Senior High School, Holmes Rock Junior High School, and Bartlett Hill Primary School.
According to Bartlett Hill Principal, Dannica Martin, twenty special needs students are expected to start at the school in approximately two weeks. Minister Cooper toured the classrooms designated for the special education unit at the school. He said, “we wanted to address this issue immediately and therefore we sought to refurbish and designate rooms at the Bartlett Hill School as well as the Holmes Rock Junior High School to ensure that we build capacity to ensure that every child needing special education has an opportunity to receive the education they deserve.”
Work is underway at Holmes Rock Junior High School to make the campus more accessible to persons with disabilities and special needs. While at the school Minister Cooper toured the library and saw the school’s elevator that is currently out of service. It is planned that the repair of the elevator be used as a learning opportunity for students interested in science and technology.
Minister Cooper said, “one of the things that we are ensuring that we do is that we don’t just focus on traditional academics but we are also introducing a special education diploma for graduation as well as a vocational education diploma. We’ll talk about the vocational education in due course. But yes, special education is an issue that we are putting our resources behind to address beginning September.”
The principal of Jack Hayward Senior High School pointed out works still needing to be addressed while guiding a tour of the facility. There are plumbing issues affecting the bathrooms and maintenance needed in the gymnasium and several classrooms.
According to Minister Cooper the ministry is providing training for special education teachers and speech specialists. “We’re going to provide the professionals as well, and we’re looking to see how we can beef up what we have to offer by way of services, but also contract those services, where necessary, from the private sector.”
The new school year is scheduled to begin on August 31.
