Minister of Finance, Christopher Sinckler, is thanking teachers for the hard work they put into teaching and nurturing the nation’s children, especially amid difficult circumstances.
Delivering remarks at the Deacon’s Primary School 2017 Graduation Ceremony, recently held at Solidarity House, Sinckler indicated that teachers in Barbados often have to teach large classes, work with limited resources while “the pay is not the best”, but many of them go the extra mile to ensure their students succeed.
“The pay is not the best. I am saying that seriously. The pay is not the best. But the stress levels can be very high and therefore it takes an extremely committed set of persons to stick in there, to support those young children, to put up with all of the stresses and strains of school and all that happens in our environment that finds their way into the school system, but still produce gems like these students. This is a work of art, so congratulations teachers,” he said.
Sinckler, who also specially congratulated the “young stars”, noted that graduation ceremonies are usually joyous occasions where teachers and parents see children progress from their early stages at primary school to secondary school, as they continue their educational journey.
“We all want to take the opportunity to congratulate them on a fantastic first stage of their educational careers and to congratulate them for their achievements as well… We must remember that the future of a country is not determined only necessarily by those of us who are here as adults now. The future of a country is really about what is happening with those who are coming,” he said.
“If we do not help these youngsters prepare for the environment to come, then we will have problems in our society, perhaps even greater than the ones we have now.
We don’t know what will happen in the future, only God knows that, but we have to be prepared using the tools that we have and the wisdom God provided us with,” Sinckler added.
At the same time, the Member of Parliament for St. Michael North West also commended parents for the sacrifices they make and the hard work they put into ensuring their charges attain success. He pointed out that parents have to deal with whatever their children may encounter and everything they produce or not produce.
“It is your guidance and your support that brings them to the stage where they are. So, parents, you should be very proud,” he said. (AH)