ST. GEORGE’S GRENADA, MAY 18, 2017: The Ministry of Education, Human Resource Development and the Environment, wishes to inform parents and the general public that student are not required to pay for school furniture, in keeping with Ministry’s Policy.
The Ministry of Education was made aware of a news item, aired on Wednesday 17th May 2017, alleging that a letter was recently issued to parents of students attending the Grenada Boys Secondary School (GBSS) in St. George, requesting students to pay for the furniture, as a solution to resolving the issue of inadequate supply of furniture at the school.
The Ministry of Education wishes to make it absolutely clear that no parent should comply with this request and that it is the duty of the Ministry of Education to ensure that each school is outfitted with furniture to meet the needs of the students.
Further, the Ministry wishes to state that it had no prior information of, nor did it endorse the request by the GBSS sent to the parents. Our follow up investigation into this GBSS matter indicates that there was a miscommunication by the institution, which the Ministry is addressing urgently.
The Ministry wishes to further inform that it has a very clear process for furniture replacement and additions within the school system. School administrators are given a deadline each year for forwarding all furniture requests to the Ministry. Once received, the Chief Education Officer assesses all requests and matches available resources with current school needs as best as possible. The only instance in which a student and his or her parents may be held responsible for school furniture and subsequently its replacement, is when a student deliberately damages school furniture.
The Ministry regrets any concerns and/or frustration that might have been caused by this unfortunate letter, and we further assure that we continue to work towards ensuring a positive and conducive learning environment for all our students at all our public schools.
