Minister for Education and Culture and First District Representative Hon. Andrew Fahie joins with At-large Representative Hon. Irene Penn O’Neal, officials, students and supporters of the West End After School Programme to capture this special moment.

Tuesday, October 9 – The West End Community After School Programme re-opened its doors yesterday with a brief ceremony held at West End Community Centre.

The programme, which is a partnership between the Ministry of Education and Culture and the West End community, will assist with homework, reading, and mathematics. Students will be also involved in arts and crafts, and discussions will be held about morals and values.

Minister for Education and Culture and Representative of the First District Honourable Andrew Fahie said that the programme was previously offered but later discontinued and that the reopening of the programme speaks to partnership. “Education is everyone’s business and there is no one person or Government that can get it done alone. We need the entire community to do it,” the Minister said.

He added, “We are talking about the future of our country and as HLSCC slogan states ‘Our Future Begins Today’ and we must make sure that we invest in our future.”

Minister Fahie said partnership is about making sure that we get the best out of the young people by ensuring that they stay on the right track and do the right thing.

Territorial-At-large Representative Hon. Irene Penn O’Neal also pledged her support to the programme and spoke about its importance. “This programme is very important because it involves our young people and that is what we are about, empowering our young people so that you can take your rightful places in this community,” she told the young gathering.

Acting Deputy Permanent Secretary Ms. Arlene Smith said that the Ministry’s focus is on developing literacy and numeracy skills as part of their remediation efforts. “We want you ones to be good readers and do your mathematics well in school,” she told the students.

Ms. Smith thanked Ms. Belviana Smith, who is the programme’s resource person, for her excellent service. “We believe that Ms. Smith is providing an excellent service here in this community in terms of helping you with your skills that you need to develop and I hope that you really take advantage of this,” Ms. Smith added.

In response, Ms. Belviana Smith told the gathering that she was happy to be a part of the programme. “I will do my best to help these kids. I will not only focus on academics but I intend to build character as well––morals and values are very important,” she said.

Member of the West End Community Centre Committee Mr. Archibald Christian said that the programme is an important one for any community and most importantly for the first district. “I trust and pray that parents and students take full advantage of this programme,” he said.

The mission of the after school programme is to develop well-rounded students with good moral character and self-confidence. Students, who will be eager to succeed academically, while socially showing consideration for the rights of others in society. The programme will be delivered on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at the West End Community Centre from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The Library Services Department will assist in the management of the programme. The Library currently has similar programmes in Road Town, East End and Virgin Gorda. This initiative began in 2002 with the aim to improve literacy and engage children in activities to develop their critical thinking.

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For more information, contact:
Vicki Samuel-Lettsome
Information Officer II
Ministry of Education and Culture
468-3701 ext. 2043
vsamuel-lettsome@gov.vg

www.bvi.vg.gov    From BVI Government Web site.