Williams defends special-needs transfers amid criticism of ‘wanton waste’
Published:Friday | November 19, 2021 | 12:10 AMKimone Francis/Senior Staff Reporter
Opposition Spokesperson on Education Dr Angela Brown Burke has lashed out at the Ministry of Education’s decision to remove special-needs students from the Adonijah Group of Schools over unpaid fees.
But on Wednesday, Education Minister Fayval Williams told The Gleaner that she was satisfied with her ministry’s decision to transfer the students despite the furore caused.
“I had the investigation done. I read the report and I am satisfied that our students are put in a different environment that will support them as well,” she said.
Brown Burke said the decision is even more stark considering what she describes as the unjustifiable waste of resources by the ministry and several of its agencies, which have been accused of irregularities by the auditor general.
Equally disturbing, said Brown Burke, is the indecision of the ministry in settling the multimillion-dollar salary saga surrounding discarded Education Minister Ruel Reid who is enmeshed in fraud and corruption charges. Reid, who is paid $4.6 million per annum, has been on special leave from the Jamaica College principalship since 2019.
Brown Burke said that the contrasting situations were proof of the ministry’s lacklustre care for special-needs children.
“It is even more concerning when we look at the wanton waste in the ministry, where it is clear that persons who should be making sure they are taking care of their fiduciary responsibilities, making sure that we are getting value for money, that those monies are going to connected persons through contract,” she said.
Last Friday, The Gleaner reported that 17 special-needs students who attended the Adonijah Group of Schools in St Andrew were displaced after the ministry failed to honour its commitment in paying over approximately $1.3 million in fees.
The students were barred from classes as the school communicated to parents that its finances had been in the red since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and worsened when the fees were not paid.
BEST INTEREST OF CHILDREN
The students were removed from the Waltham Park Road-based institution, which specialises in teaching children with “varying degrees of learning capabilities”, and placed at One Way Preparatory School on Newark Avenue in Kingston.
Parents have insisted that the latter school lacks the resources to adequately care for their children.
Williams said that the ministry will be working with One Way Prep to improve its infrastructure and services.
“We have to always act in the best interest of our children,” she added.
Brown Burke said while it may be justifiable to mainstream special-needs students into other schools, many of the transferees do not fare as well.
“What this really shows is that the ministry, I believe, has not really taken into account the actual needs of these students,” the opposition spokesperson said, adding that concerns have heightened amid the pandemic.
Director for the University of the West Indies Centre for Disabilities, Dr Floyd Morris, told The Gleaner that he has developed an aversion for the ministry, pointing to the litany of scandals that have emerged.
Morris, who is blind and an opposition senator, said the ministry’s willingness to pay an additional $80,000 per student for its Sixth Form Pathways Programme was in stark contrast to its reluctance to finance education for special-needs students.