Little Cesar dreams of getting into school

Jesús Thomas and Ruselis Galindo, two Venezuelan parents, are still waiting for their elder son, five-year-old Cesar, to be accepted into the public education system, over a month since the school year started.

Cesar was brought to Trinidad and Tobago when he was just a few months old, and since then he has completed his preschool education at a private school in San Fernando.

Now old enough for primary school, Cesar was one of the hundreds of Venezuelan migrant children who took the tests needed to enter the public education system, as announced by the government in September.

To date, his parents have not been given any further information, and Cesar has already missed weeks of studies.

Thomas, an industrial engineer, and Galindo, a systems engineer, have had to take on the task of educating their son every day as best they can.

Thomas said: “Cesar is a very intelligent child. He has learned English and Spanish and reads and writes both languages.

"Every night when we get home we dedicate the necessary time to him.”

He works for CW Interiors and Galindo at the Pasarela store in Gulf City, San Fernando.

In addition to Cesar, they also have a baby, 11-month-old James.

“For us, as professionals, it is a priority that our children study.

"The rejection from public schools has been very hard for Cesar, because he is just a child and he deserves an education, like any other child in the world."

Galindo recalled that after Cesar arrived in TT they sacrificed to pay the fees for him to study at a private school, the Future Scholars ACCE preschool in San Fernando.

“We arrived in TT before the 2018 registration, and have complied with all document renewals required by the TT government. We are two young hard-working migrants looking for a better present and future as a family. That is why we came to TT,” she said.

Cesar learned English during his preschool years, and now speaks better English than Spanish.

“He knows the alphabet, spelling, adding and subtracting, colours and even writes, all in English.”

They have a letter of recommendation from his preschool.

Despite that, Thomas and Galindo have not been able to get Cesar into primary school.

“Since pre-registration began in March and April of this year for children for a place in primary schools, we began to fill out forms and deliver them to various schools. There were around seven schools, of which I only got responses from three, although negative, but at least they responded. The other four schools did not."

One school was "very kind to us," Thomas said. "They even said they had space to include Cesar, but they didn't have authorisation from the Ministry of Education to accept him,”

So the family took Cesar to sit the tests carried out in early September by UWI volunteers for admitting migrant children to RC schools.

“He completed the tests easily, but a month later, we still do not know who were the children who passed those tests and can study here.”

Thomas and Galindo say it has been difficult for them as migrants to be able to stay here, especially because of their eldest son's need for an education.

“James was born here, and therefore he should have the right to study without problems, but Cesar is a child too, and we believe his migrant status does not make him inhuman. On the contrary, he deserves to study,” Galindo said.

As parents, they think about the future of their children and hope both Cesar and the other migrant children in TT can have an education here so that they can be good citizens and serve this country or any other country they go to.

In July, Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Dr Amery Browne announced the possible integration of migrant children into the public education system, adding that the Government was working on it.

Registered Venezuelan children were assessed for eligibility according to their competence in English. UWI staff did the assessments.

Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly said her ministry was working with various stakeholders, such as
the Catholic Education Board of Management and the National Security Ministry, to integrate migrant children into schools.

Newsday tried to get responses from migrant support organisations, but they all referred the issue to the government for the final say.

There were no responses from the Ministry of Education or the RC Church.