[UPDATED] Imbert: Education sector to receive funds for school upgrades

Finance Minister Colm Imbert said the budgetary allocation for education and training in the budget is $7.512 billion. This is a decrease of $510 million from the 2023 allocation of $8.022 billion.

Speaking during the 2024/2025 budget presentation in Parliament on Monday, Imbert said in 2025, construction will continue on several new schools with maintenance and repair of several other schools given the highest priority.

"Specifically, the Education Ministry’s 2025 budgetary application will be supplemented with special purpose loan financing to allow urgently needed school repairs to be executed by a state enterprise in a prompt and timely manner."

Over the last few weeks, several schools have been in the news, including the Mt Hope Secondary School and St George’s College, as needing urgent repairs and upgrades.

In several cases, parents and teachers protested and children were kept home from school.

He listed approximately ten schools which had been constructed or upgraded since 2020, each costing between $24-$37 million.

Imbert said there are several initiatives which will be implemented in the education system during the upcoming fiscal year.

One of these is a digital ecosystem that would revolutionise education delivery in the sector.

"These efforts culminate in the development of a numeracy adaptive learning platform by January 2025. This innovative platform will facilitate the creation of diagnostic databases and tailored numeracy experiences to foster numeracy development, remediation and progress monitoring for all students, $3.2 million has been allocated to implementing this programme."

Imbert said a comprehensive digital literacy programme to develop the human capacity of TT will be implemented at a cost of $2.9 million.

In addition, the Education Ministry will implement a solar-powered sustainability project in schools at a cost of $2.6 million.

He said a CSEC remedial mathematics programme will also be implemented as an after-school programme at 26 secondary schools of focus to address the concerning decline in grades.

He added that an e-book platform will be implemented in June 2025 to transition teaching and learning from a textbook-dependent and instructor-centred approach to a more interactive and student-centric paradigm. The initiative will offer cost-effective learning resources and promote equitable access to quality educational materials.

"The implementation of this programme guarantees access to e-textbooks covering all subjects taught in primary and secondary schools, thereby preparing our students for the digital era."

He said the $1,000 book grant will be repeated in 2025 with the same means test and is likely to cost $20 million. He said 20,000 eligible students were awarded the grant in 2024.

Imbert said the government acknowledged the importance of addressing the health of students, including their psycho-social, physical and financial needs.

"Our school nutrition programme continues to play a pivotal role in ensuring food and nutrition security, with over 14 million breakfast and lunch meals served at 800 schools nationwide during the 2023/2024 academic year.

"Accessibility to school transport is essential for ensuring students’ continued participation in the education system. Our free school transport service provides over 6,700 students from 67 primary and 37 secondary schools in rural communities with equitable access to educational opportunities."

He said students’ health and well-being were being managed through the crisis intervention programme. Imbert added that trained social workers respond to support students in acute crisis within 24 hours of the incident to reduce negative outcomes.

Imbert said the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (GATE), Higher Education Loan Programme Framework and the bursary programmes will undergo enhancements in 2024.

He said 15,714 students have benefited from the GATE fund, 525 loans have been distributed under HELP and 277 national bursaries were given to CAPE students.

The government will be investing more in teacher training, he added.

"We have embarked on a comprehensive approach to teacher development. Our programmes are designed to enhance educational skills, integrate modern teaching methods and foster a deeper understanding of our diverse student population. From professional development workshops to enhanced degree programmes, we are equipping our teachers with the tools to thrive in today’s dynamic educational landscape."

The Finance Minister said government would be settling mutually agreed outstanding arrears with the University of the West Indies in 2025.

He said a $50 million Building TT or "BeTnT" initiative will be implemented, based on the Community Recovery Committee’s recommendation and aims to uplift communities identified as at-risk by promoting community pride, social support, economic and human development.

Imbert said government will continue with apprenticeship programmes.

This story was originally published with the title "Imbert: Education sector to receive new programmes" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

FINANCE Minister Colm Imbert said there are several initiatives which will be implemented in the education system during the upcoming fiscal year.

Speaking during the 2024/2025 budget presentation in Parliament on September 30, Imbert said one of these is a digital ecosystem that would revolutionise education delivery in the sector.

“These efforts culminate in the development of a numeracy adaptive learning platform by January 2025. This innovative platform will facilitate the creation of diagnostic databases and tailored numeracy experiences to foster numeracy development, remediation and progress monitoring for all students.”

He said an e-book platform will be implemented in June 2025 to transition teaching and learning from a textbook-dependent and instructor-centred approach to a more interactive and student-centric paradigm.

Imbert said GATE, HELP and the bursary programmes will undergo enhancements in 2024.

He said government will be investing more in teacher training.

The Finance Minister said government would be settling mutually agreed arrears with the University of the West Indies in 2025.

He said a $50 million Building Trinidad and Tobago or “BeTnT” initiative will be implemented based on the Community Recovery Committee’s recommendation and aims to uplift communities identified as at-risk by promoting community pride, social support, economic and human development.

Imbert said government will continue with apprenticeship programmes.