Education

The Superintendent Minister of the Anguilla Methodist Circuit, the Rev. Lindsay Richardson has issued the following press release in which he condemned the recent acts of violence at the Albena Lake Hodge Comprehensive School.

Former Truancy Officer at the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School, Michael Fleming, says that some people are blaming the school for the spate of violence occurring there ever so often but they are mistaken.

The sixth form students from the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School who participated in the recent Annual Leeward Islands Debate have been congratulated for their performance.

Cable & Wireless in Anguilla is the first business unit in the region to offer the high-speed ADSL Internet Service to the Public Library and all schools on the island - and free of cost at that. (The new system will cost Cable and Wireless EC$20,000 a year).

The Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School is responsible for managing and spending a sizeable portion of its annual budget for the first time. According to the Principal, Darwin Hazell the current academic year began with the ALHCS functioning as a self-managing school, having been allocated over EC$900,000 by the Education Department to finance certain aspects of its expenditure.

As part of the New Year, the ECSE has embarked on a Marketing Education and Awareness Campaign for the entire OECS. The campaign is developed for a period of 12 months and includes print, television and oral presentations. Focus sessions are targeted at schools, business houses, financial institutions, community and service groups, government departments and others.

The Anguilla Government was presented with eighty computers and 30 inkjet printers which were distributed to the six public primary schools where Information Technology is part of the curriculum. The equipment was provided by The Mount Sinai School District of New York.

The West End Primary School project which still has a long way to go before its completion is very much alive.

This brings me to a personal instance in 1966, the first year that I was promoted to a headmaster at the West End Primary School. I had been there for less than an academic year, and the school received no passes. This was an extra-ordinary result for the school. I cannot recall that the parents of the students from Long Bay or West End openly casted judgement on my stewardship, but to be sure some of the members of the teaching fraternity had me belittled saying, “What kind of headteacher is he?” It must be realized that in those days promotion to headships were keenly contested.

Let me preface this article with a quote from the GOVERNMENT OF ANGUILLA BUDGET ADDRESS, FOR 2003 – “ Education with its allocation of $13.28 million will account for the largest share of the Social Development budget at 42.22%. This figure is 14.2% of the proposed total of Recurrent Expenditures. This is as it should be, Mr. Speaker. We have invested heavily in capital and human resource improvement in Education over the years.

Much emphasis is being placed on the teaching of foreign languages in the schools in Anguilla. One teacher, Colin Johnson, sees it as a very important matter to facilitate communication and travel, and in Anguilla’s case, as a plus for persons on the island intending to work in the tourism industry.

School Recognises Outstanding Students
A large crowd braved the inclement weather conditions across Anguilla on Tuesday evening to attend the Speech Night function of the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School.