ENID SCATLIFFE PRE-PRIMARY ADOPTED BY BVI SOCIAL SECURITY BOARD

Wednesday June 23, 2010

The Enid Scatliffe Pre-Primary School has officially welcomed its adopted parent, the BVI Social Security Board, to their family in a brief ceremony held this week at the school.

The school was officially adopted under the Ministry of Education and Culture’s Adopt-A-School Programme and received an initial monetary contribution of $2,500 from its adopter. In a brief ceremony held at the school, Minister of Education and Culture the Honourable Andrew Fahie thanked the Board for their generosity and for joining the programme. He explained that this initiative is nothing new but it allows for better accountability. “The Adopt-A-School Programme is nothing new but what we have done is to make sure that companies that invest their monies in the schools have an organisation that allows for accountability,” the Minister said, adding, “Because when these companies give money to the schools we want to make sure that it touches the lives of the students and not just one or two events in the schools.”

Minister Fahie told the gathering that in order to have a good future we have to invest in the young people of today because education is a partnership. “By having the companies being a part of the schools they have a stake in your (students) future and they will be helping the Government, parents and teachers in your development,” he told the students.

At the ceremony, Premier Honourable Ralph T. O’Neal, OBE also expressed his pleasure of having a Government institution participating in this programme. He said that this is a very important programme which transcends beyond the monetary contributions. “These children can be influenced by persons in these businesses coming into the school and talking to them and helping the teachers and the Parent/Teachers Association. I am sure that the Social Security Board will play its part as an adopted parent”

Principal of the Enid Scatliffe Pre-Primary School Mrs. Gladys Scatliffe said that the relationship between the school and the Board has been rewarding and that they have assisted them in many ways one of which is the recent donation of books to their school. “At our school we strive for the best and reading is one of the things that we have at the top of our programme,” she said.

Mrs. Scatliffe added, “We feed every primary school in the Territory and we want all our children to be able to read before they go on to other schools.”
Director, BVI Social Security Board Mrs. Antoinette Skelton said that the Board has been working in adopting a school for a while. Speaking about the criteria she stated, “The Board decided that in the adoption of a school that it should be more than monetary contribution and the school which is adopted should be one where children throughout the Territory attended.” Speaking about the donation of books Mrs. Skelton stated that the Board spent approximately $3,400 last year in the purchase of ten complete set of Phyllis C. Hunter classroom libraries of which six were for kindergarten and four for the first grade. “There is no better time for this adoption than now when the BVI Social Security Board will be celebrating 30 years on July 2 of providing benefits to our contributors,” she said.

Chairperson of the Adopt-A-School Programme Mrs. Colette Corea-Saunders thanked the Board for their kind contribution, “I can assure you that the monies will be properly used to further develop this school,” she said. Mrs. Sanders encouraged the Board and the school to keep in touch with each other. She also spoke about her satisfaction of the response received thus far by companies, “I am extremely encouraged with the number of companies that are voicing an interest in adopting a school and it is my personal goal that all public schools be adopted by the 2010/2011 school year.”

The Adopt-A-School Programme was launched by the Ministry of Education and Culture in October, 2007. A total of eight primary schools have already been adopted under this programme of which the main purpose is to provide a necessary link between schools and donor organisations, to educate and ensure that each school environment is conducive to a dynamic learning experience.