Farley: Every Tobago child should learn to swim

THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine believes every child in Tobago should learn to swim at an early age.

He was delivering the feature address at the recommissioning of the Kendal Aquatic Facility on January 30.

The facility, commissioned in January 2015, was constructed on 3,900 sq ft of land at a cost of $19,451,140.13. It fell into disrepair in 2020 but was refurbished in March 2024 at cost of $2.643 million (VAT inclusive).

The facility comprises two pools and a pavilion to accommodate over 100 people, among other amenities.

Addressing an audience which included students from several schools in Tobago East, Augustine recalled in November, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley said her government’s goal was to have every single student on the island learn to swim by 2030

“I agree with her, because Tobago, like Barbados, we are largely ocean states. In fact, we have more water as part of our acreage than we have land,” he said.

“So living on an island should compel us towards ensuring that all of our students learn to swim. And so I am challenging the Division of Education, Research and Technology and your curriculum officers. I am challenging you all for us to work with agencies such as the YMCA in having an even more robust and inclusive programme so that we can ensure by a defined date, all of Tobago’s students and young people can actually swim.

“You should not be living on an island and not be able to swim. Even with what we are seeing in terms of climate changes, what we are seeing in terms of the battle with the sea on our coasts, all of our young people from as early as possible should learn to swim.”

Augustine joked that the Division of Education, Research and Technology should pattern its swim programme after the fishermen in his village, Speyside.

“If the Division of Education takes up the programme that the fishermen in my little community of Lucyvale in Speyside has, I guarantee every child on this island will be swimming before they are at the age of four, because that was my experience.”

He said whenever he visits Speyside on a weekend, “You will find children as young as four and three years old at the beach playing and swimming on their own without adult supervision, and that is because the community, through its own method, finds a way to teach the youngsters how to swim.

“We cannot live on a small island where we have more marine assets, more blue economy assets, more ocean assets than we actually have land, and not be able to swim. That should be a matter of part of our right as a citizen on this island.”

Augustine said the aquatic facility is also a testament that education is more than just what happens in the classroom.

“In fact, a whole lot of our education comes from what happens out of the classroom and it is about how communities can impact schools and vice versa.”

The facility, he added, provides an opportunity for schools in the area to bring in qualified people to assist the students.

Reflecting on the refurbishment of the facility, Augustine said, “One of the challenges of the Tobago House of Assembly is that somehow over the years we have not gotten right the ability to maintain the facilities that we do build. And so very often, you find that we would have to spend large sums and close for extended periods to repair these facilities, where, if we had a robust maintenance schedule, then it would cost us far less.”

He urged accounting officers and those in the policy implementation unit to look at how a robust maintenance schedule could be developed for such facilities so that they can kept open round the clock.

“One must appreciate that $2 million was spent on getting an old facility working again, as opposed to $2 million in a new enterprise. So there is, in fact, an opportunity cost to all of the fixing that we have to do.”

Education Secretary Zorisha Hackett, in her address, said for too long there has been a quiet sentiment that villages in Tobago East have been left behind.

“While the feeling is not without merit, today, we take a significant step in the right direction. The recommissioning of this Kendal Aquatic facility signals this administration’s understanding of the critical role an infrastructure such as this one plays, not only in shaping individual lives but in strengthening entire communities,” she said.

Hackett told the students the facility offers them a unique and invaluable resource that goes far beyond the classroom.

“It is a space where you can develop your critical skills such as swimming and water safety while also learning the discipline and process that is required in competitive sport and physical fitness. These lessons will definitely serve you well in every aspect of your life.”

She said the facility will also be a place for families and communities can gather and focus on their health and well-being.

The division’s administrator Diane Baker-Henry and project manager Shem Hercules also spoke.