Education Minister: MILAT for girls is coming

EDUCATION Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly said on Wednesday a female Milat programme will be created, when asked by Newsday about her plans for errant pupils who exit schools to be enrolled in Milat. Also, boys younger than 16 will be admitted into Milat.

The Military-Led Academic Training (Milat) programme is a social intervention for at-risk youth to be empowered by academic certification, character development, paramilitary training, and skills-acquisition in areas such as agriculture and cooking.

At a briefing last Friday, when asked about mandating errant pupils into Milat, she had said the law sets down compulsory schooling up to age 16.

In our questions sent via WhatsApp to the minister, Newsday said Milat was designed for males who are 16-20 – according to the Milat website – thereby suggesting a gap in accommodating any errant pupil who was female or under age 16.

Noting many schoolgirl-fights in TT, Newsday asked if Milat would be expanded to include girls or whether to enrol them in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) which includes females 16-plus, and what was the position regarding younger males and Milat. Both Milat and the CCC are run by the Ministry of Youth Development and National Service (MYDNS).

Gadsby-Dolly, via WhatsApp, replied that those matters had all been considered.

"Milat has been asked to accommodate younger males.

"Also, MYDNS is embarking on creating a Milat programme for girls."

Gadsby-Dolly added that based on the assessment of each child recommended by her ministry to the MYDNS, if other programmes might be more suitable, such students could be enrolled in them.

Last Friday, the minister had said ten pupils had been expelled this year, and three last year. She had said her ministry had a no-tolerance stance on school violence while also boosting its care staff to 100-plus guidance counsellors and 200 school social workers, to focus on early intervention with pupils.

The fate of expelled pupils was recently put into the public domain by the expulsion of a secondary school pupil from South Trinidad seen in a viral video clip being quite disrespectful to her teacher. The minister had said the girl had not been amenable to various offers of help while still in school, leaving no choice but expulsion in light of disruption to other pupils. The mother subsequently publicly apologised for her daughter's behaviour. The teenager then said she wished to aspire to become a nurse.

Newsday telephoned and sent a WhatsApp text message to Minister of Youth Development and National Service Foster Cummings to seek brief details of the plans to expand the age and gender aspects of Milat. Has any study been done on this whole issue? For errant females under 16, was the CCC a better bet as it already has female attendees? What time line did he have for errant females and under-16 pupils to enter programmes like Milat, CCC? Did the Milat expansion incur any additional costs?

Up to press time, he had not sent a response to Newsday.