| This has been a loaded week for the Ministry and Department of Education and the Ministry of Social Development and the Health Authority in Anguilla. First, it was the reopening of schools with all the associated challenges of continuing the task of educating and managing our teeming band of youngsters; then it was the public consultation on the long-debated and extensively-amended Education Bill; and the launching of the Chronic Care Passport pilot project to look at a number of diseases, including diabetes, now affecting many people in our small society. |
| The Education Bill and the Chronic Care Passport pilot project are of significant interest and importance to Anguilla and its people. The Bill has seen the involvement of two Governments of Anguilla. It went through a number of public consultations; was unceremoniously thrown out of the House of Assembly where it was taken for debate and passage; was subsequently returned to the people for their views and further amendments; and is now being amended for what will hopefully be its final presentation and passage in the House.The Education Bill, though having its origin as an OECS sub-regional piece of group legislation, has a number of important provisions which will help steer the course of educational administration and learning in Anguilla. Aside from some inherent matters in the Bill previously of concern to persons in Anguilla, now substantially and suitably amended, both the Ministry and Department of Education have been urgently looking forward to its implementation. A supporting voice also came on Monday this week from the leadership of the Anguilla Community College calling for its passage in the House of Assembly in order to give effect to provisions and linkages of much benefit to the work of the College and the OECS Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme. It is also a project in which the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School has long been involved and from which students have benefitted immensely. Another event in the development of education in Anguilla was the commencement of the Associate Degree Programmes in Hospitality Studies and Business Studies at the Anguilla Community College and the large number of students now registered and in fact attending classes. It is indeed a proud moment for thepersonnel involved in the College, the Board of Governors, the students themselves and for Anguilla on a whole. It is note-worthy how education is speedily advancing in Anguilla and it is also an occasion for pride for the Ministry and Department of Education which involves people who are among the crème de la crème of the island’s community, educators and administrators. It is no wonder that the Minister of Social Development, Edison Baird, boldly asserted during the recent Teachers’ Appreciation Day ceremony, that his “Ministry has the greatest contribution to make to Anguilla’s development.” We now turn to health with particular reference to the Chronic Care Passport pilot project relating to various non-communicable diseases and in particular diabetes. (See story elsewhere in this edition of The Anguillian.) One could not but admire the relief and hope that registered on the faces of the large number of persons not just because they were present at the launching ceremony, but because they were selected to be involved in the programme supported by the Pan American Health Organisation. Their reason for happiness is that they are about to receive monitoring assistance for their health conditions. The fact that this is a pilot project probably means that it may eventually spread to, or have some benefits for, the wider community in which there are many other citizens with similar chronic illnesses, among them being diabetics and heart and cancer patients. Certainly, the Government, the Ministry of Social Development and the Health Authority are in need of assistance to address the increasing cases of health decline in Anguilla, and particular thanks and appreciation must be extended to the Pan American Health Organisation which is providing some very useful and professional assistance to the island and its people. Dr. TomoKonda, who is the assigned consultant, is dedicated to the task and must be thanked for the fervor and commitment she has shown. Education and Health are two of the most important features and areas of responsibility in any society and in a small island, like Anguilla, where the services can be seen and evaluated at a glance, they are extremely sensitive issues. It is no easy task for those charged with administering the two services and certainly no reason not to understand the varied expectations and demands of the customers. The simple and perhaps most appreciative thing that anyone can do, is to offer best wishes for the further development of Education and Health, and to thank those who are providing the critical services sometimes with much difficulty and sacrifice. |
