Opposition spokesperson on education Dr Angela Brown Burke has said that a recommendation in the Orlando Patterson Report on investment in the infrastructure of tertiary-level institutions has missed the mark by far.
The report stated that “To correct extremely low capital investment over past decades, a capital investment fund should be established and seeded with J$2 billion, to be distributed through competition, with emphasis on changes in the use of technology in the administration of the institutions as well as the delivery of programmes.”
In her contribution to the Sectoral Debate in Parliament on Wednesday, Brown Burke said the Opposition believed that there should be a capital investment in tertiary-level institutions “before anything slightly competitive is introduced”.
She argued that if the “Government wants to know where to get the funds from; just look at the national security line (in the budget)”.
The opposition spokesperson said that the public expenditure report recommended support for health and safety requirements for reopening of schools; re-enrolment campaign and outreach activities for those disengaged or lost to the system; targeted support for the most at-risk students; programme to mitigate and prevent dropout and facilitation of remedial education to minimise learning loss.
According to Brown Burke, the report estimated that these activities could cost $2.4 billion to $3.9 billion annually for the next one to two years.
She, however, pointed out that it was estimated that the cost of inaction was $828 billion.
Brown Burke highlighted a huge gap in the capital expenditure for education and national security infrastructure.
Over three budget years, she said the Government had budgeted $20.8 billion on national security infrastructure while spending $2.7 billion on education infrastructure.
“These numbers make it clear where our priority lies, and clearly, that’s not education,” she said.
Turning to the early childhood sector, Brown Burke said that $5.1 billion was allocated in the budget, an increase of $278 million. She said that 67 per cent of the funding was directed at staff salaries and associated costs.
“There is also another 28 per cent that is required for salaries, nutrition, and materials, but that total sum is actually less than what was allocated last year (2021-22).”
She said that there was no new funding for investing in and developing the early childhood education sector, which she said was of great concern to the Opposition.