The future of Trinidad and Tobago demands a philosophy of education that stresses the need to be relevant to each individual in the process of schooling.

WE BELIEVE

• That every child has an inherent right to an education that will enhance the development of maximum capability regardless of gender, ethnic, economic, social or religious background.
• That every child has the ability to learn and that we must build on this positive assumption.
• That every child has an inalienable right to an education that facilitates the achievement of personal goals and the fulfillment of obligations to society.
• That education is fundamental to the overall development of Trinidad and Tobago.
• That a system of 'heavily subsidized' and universal education up to age 16 is the greatest safeguard of the freedom of our people and is the best guarantee of their social, political, and economic well-being at this stage in our development.
• That the educational system of Trinidad and Tobago must endeavour to develop a spiritually, morally, physically, intellectually and emotionally sound individual.
• That ethical and moral concerns are central to human development and survival. Fundamental constructs such as 'decency', 'justice', 'respect', 'kindness', 'equality', 'love', 'honesty', and, 'sensitivity', are major determinants of the survival of our multi-cultural society.
• That the parent and the home have a major responsibility for the welfare of the child and that the well being of the child can best be served by a strong partnership between the community and the school.
• That the educational system must provide curricular arrangements and choices that ensure that cultural, ethnic, class and gender needs are appropriately addressed.
• That students vary in natural ability, and that schools therefore should provide, for all students, programmes which are adapted to varying abilities, and which provide opportunity to develop differing personal and socially useful talents.
• That we must be alert to new research and development in all fields of human learning and to the implications of these developments for more effective teaching and school improvement.
• That the Educational System must be served by professionals who share and are guided in their operations by a set of systematic and incisive understandings, beliefs and values about education in general and its relationship to the development of the national community of Trinidad and Tobago.
• That there is a need to create and sustain a humanized and democratized system of education for the survival of our democracy.
• That the democratization and humanization of the educational system are lately contingent on the degree to which the system is professionalised. The nature of educational problems are such that the professional core must be engaged in decision-making with respect tot he problems that affect their expert delivery of the services tot he clientele and ultimately to Trinidad and Tobago. Professionals must come to experience a real sense of 'control and ownership' of matters educational.
• That from a psychological perspective, education is a means of looking out beyond the boundaries of the immediate. It can be the viable means that creates individuals with the intellect and capacity to develop and lead societies, communities, villages, and/or neighbourhoods and families of the future. It should be responsive to and stimulate the searing human spirit and the emphatic quest for human communication, interaction, love and trust.
• That learning is cumulative and that every stage in the educational process is as important and critical for the learner's development as what has gone before it and what is to come. As such we must view educational programming and development in the round, recognizing the importance of every rung on the ladder of delivery by intensifying our efforts throughout the system.

SECTION I

1. THE VISION

 
0. These plan proposals are underpinned by a vision that is grounded in lessons drawn from past experiences and current realities. They are inspired by projections about future challenges and possibilities and above all by the faith which the national community has expressed in the potential of a sound basic education for boosting economic development, protecting and sustaining what is best in our cultural heritage and acting as a bulwark against any decline in moral values.

 
1. This faith fuels expectations for the provision of a sound basic education for all in our national community. Our regulatory arrangements mandate compulsory primary education and because of the commitment to a principle of eventually providing secondary education for all, the state, in collaboration with denominational bodies, has expanded Secondary Education to what is by Third World standards, the relatively respectable level of providing for more than seventy percent of the relevant age cohort seeking entry from primary schools.
1. MAJOR CONCERNS

 
• But there are still acknowledged areas for concern.

 
• The levels of provision mentioned above are not organized to cater for pupils with Special Needs nor adequately for Early Childhood Care and Education. There is still, overall, an unacceptably low level of academic achievement in the system, and generally speaking, personal and social development outcomes leave a lot to be desired. While a seventy percent transition rate from primary to secondary has been achieved, the distribution of secondary school places by district remains unacceptably uneven, with transition rates varying from 40% in Tobago to some 92% in St. Patrick.
• Other areas requiring urgent attention are:
• The need for a finely honed policy analysis, policy reform and policy implementation capability that would ensure the design, implementation and evaluation of plans and programmes responsive to critical needs and emerging priorities, and orchestrated to promote sustained improvement in the system as a whole. Such a policy environment and capability would ensure that we present to international donor and lending agencies, a compelling sense of our mission through a planning and programming framework which can more readily induce their support and collaboration on our terms. Without such a proactive stance we would continue to invite the imposition of those seemingly inflexible conditionalities which now accompany foreign assistance.

 
• There is an absence of a coherent Human Resource Management capability as a result of the diffuse nature of the existing policy authority for personnel services in the education system. Under the present dispensation, the achievement of primary educational functions of the Ministry of Education is not always given top priority.

 
• The delivery system is adversely affected by the following:

1. School buildings that are in urgent need of refurbishment and rehabilitation;
2. A teacher corps in which morale has been affected negatively by the condition of the learning environment in some cases, and by selection, recruitment, deployment, remuneration and promotion policies and practices which nullify the impact of professional formation and preparation and encourage the establishment of a mediocrity norm in the Teaching Service;
3. A virtual absence of specified attainment benchmarks (especially in the early years of the primary school) which can guide teaching and learning on the one hand and on the other promote the necessary diagnostic, remedial and preventative interventions critical to the development of an effective and efficient education system; As a result, performance on one major test in the primary system supersedes genuine learning achievement; and curricular arrangements linked to the attainment of a basic minimum of five CXC passes subvert the goals of a sound general education at the secondary level;
4. In such a context there is widespread misunderstanding of, and genuine lack of appreciation for the purposes of Early Childhood Care and Education as a foundational element for developing pro-social competencies in the young child and for laying the pre-conditions for all subsequent educational efforts. This is reflected in the unrealistic demands parents of preschoolers make on ECCE centres, as well as in the expectations of the primary schools that receive 'graduates' from such 'preschools'. It is also reflected of course, in the inappropriate curriculum and instruction and the equally inappropriate instructional materials used in many institutions in this sub-sector of the education system;
5. Weakened school/Community linkages, which have resulted from the pattern of distribution of school places in particular and the relative absence of parenting courses and participatory school management practices;
6. All of the foregoing factors serve to increase the proportion of students we eventually label as 'educationally at risk'. They generate early learning deficits that are cumulative and compound the personal and social 'difficulties' which pupils experience in their subsequent years of schooling. Needless to say, they also generate a plethora of 'second chance' and quasi-post-secondary academic, technical and vocational initiatives in the Further Education Sub-sector thus revealing the level of wastage in the formal system up to that point, and in some cases, given the biography of the students and the organization of these programmes, they compound the wastage and heighten the frustration of these, by now, adult learners.

0. These inefficiencies in the education system are threatening to undermine faith in its ability to deliver and can temper the willingness of the state and international agencies to fund it adequately. This is especially true in our current context of stringent fiscal constraints and structural adjustment conditionalities.

1. PARAMETERS

 

 
 
 
 
 

0. THE ECONOMIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC CONTEXT

 
1. In the Medium-Term Policy Framework (MTPF) 1993 - 1995 and the rolling Framework 1994 - 1996, the government has outlined a macro-economic policy for achieving a set of key economic targets, as the economy moves beyond the stabilization phase (1987 - 91), during which fiscal and external balances were steadied, on to a path of sustainable growth.

 
2. The MTPF outlines a programme for sustaining a stable macro-economic environment and promoting employment and socio-economic growth and development with equity. In recognition of what it describes as structural constraints on the domestic economy, it sets out as objectives, the expansion of the productive base, diversification of the output mix, increasing the country's international competitiveness, making the economy more resilient to external shocks and more responsive to niche opportunities, and increasing employment opportunities for vulnerable groups.

 
3. It is clear that the achievement of these objectives will depend on the degree of efficiency with which we manage our human resources, as well as, upon the extent to which the general educational formation of the population has been, and continues to be, appropriately and successfully prosecuted.

 
4. The MTPF also speaks of the resolve regarding growth with equity. It underscores the need for social programmes that are adequately funded, targeting beneficiaries with the utmost precision and reflecting a style of delivery and operation that promotes sustainability. More specifically, improved programmes in education, health, housing, unemployment insurance, retirement benefits and retraining and apprenticeship for out-of-school youth have been identified as fundamental to this strategy of growth and development with equity.

 
5. This human resource-led strategy places human development at the centre or focal point of socio-economic development, and as such, places the education sector at the heart of the development process. Development opportunities missed as a result of inadequate funding of education have detrimental medium and long term consequences and can never really be regained.

 
6. The proposals in this review of the education system are absolutely critical if the state is to continue to play a major role in directing resources, in a well-informed manner, towards the goal of meeting the needs of the national community in a rapidly changing socio-economic environment.

 
7. It is fully recognized that an efficient and effective system of education can improve economic productivity and mobilize the talents and potential of individuals and groups in our society. As a civilizing force, enhancing the self-concept, providing better social skills, improving intergroup relations and promoting mutual respect for those of another gender, race, class, religion and ability level, it stands at the heart of all of our nation-building efforts.

 
8. Given the foregoing vision, we are obliged to ensure that the quality of education is continually enhanced and that education is delivered and distributed in ways that respect efficiency but also promote social equity.
2. PUBLIC EXPENDITURE ON EDUCATION

 

 
 
 
 
 

0. Over the last ten years, the state's total expenditure on education has fluctuated, with the changing fiscal position of the Central Government, reaching an all time high of TT $1.2 billion in 1984 and plummeting to TT $0.78 billion in the throes of the recession in 1989.

 
1. Nevertheless government's expenditure on education as a proportion of total expenditure has averaged about 13.6% for the period 1983 - 1993, declining to a ten year low of 12.0% in 1992, but showing an upward trend since then. As a share in the Gross National Product, educational expenditure has been declining over the last six years from 6.3% in 1989 to 3.9% in 1993.

 
2. These figures compare favourably with countries in the third world of comparable national income levels but should not be allowed to mask the necessity for more efficient use to be made of these allocations at the basic level (that is: early childhood to secondary levels).

 
3. It must also be noted that they include only token provisions for those with special needs and do not provide adequately for the provision of early childhood care and education for that proportion of pre-schoolers that are educationally at risk.
3. THE DEMOGRAPHIC SITUATION AND QUALITY

 

 
 
 
 
 

0. Between now and the end of the century we will have to accommodate an increasing number of pupils at all levels of our education system. Given the socio-economic challenges mentioned above we will also have to ensure that our expansions are accompanied by qualitative improvements such as the following:

1. Provision of appropriate physical learning environments through the construction of new plant and the refurbishment and rehabilitation of existing schools.

 
2. Achievement of a minimum level of professional preparation and formation of the core technical staff at the Ministry of Education and of school managers and teachers in the education system.

 
3. The establishment of a system for the continuous upgrading of the skills and knowledge of those cadres.

 
4. Achievement of the goal of a fully trained teaching service at the early childhood, primary and secondary levels with policies for recruitment, promotion and performance appraisal and remuneration which would ensure adequate development and maximum utilization of the skills and abilities of such a teacher corps;

 
5. The provision of supportive student personnel services;

 
6. Improvement in the quality of learning and levels of attainment in all our schools, but especially in those where underachievement and failure are particularly marked.

 
7. A policy reform environment and capability to sustain these developments and win support for them in all quarters of our national community.

1. THE DEMOGRAPHIC SITUATION AND COST IMPLICATIONS

 
0. Drawing on comprehensive data provided by the Planning Unit in the Ministry of Education, the demographic imperatives and their implications for the current and future supply of school places, for the supply of teachers and support staff and for new methods of financing educational development in the future can be schematically represented in the following manner.

 
1. Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) - Integrating the Services

The figures available for the 3 to 4 year old population indicate that there is an overall participation rate of 43% made possible by a combination of the efforts of the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Association of Village Councils and SERVOL and by efforts of entrepreneurs/private households.
 
2. Over the next seven years, the National Council for Early Childhood Care and Education which this plan has proposed, should work assiduously to bring the full age cohort into the system of care and education at this level. It should be charged with the responsibility for developing policy incentives to encourage the partnership between the state and the private sector, non-governmental organizations, parents, caregivers and educators.

 
3. It should build a model of collaboration and partnership that integrates matters of health, safety and nutrition with other basic educational concerns. It can then serve as the cradle in which the much needed organic link between the home and the school can be consolidated and from which it can be ultimately extended up to the primary and secondary levels. Such collaboration will not only provide much needed technical and financial assistance but, more importantly, will provide an education for parents, community group-persons and other caregivers.

 
4. The nutrition and health imperatives also make it necessary for the model to include an action plan for a school feeding programme which would involve the agricultural sector, community health visiting officials and all those involved in the provision of services for children. These opportunities for the full mobilization of our human resources must no longer be wasted.

 
5. Carefully planned and administered, these programmes will also serve to co-ordinate and ultimately integrate the efforts of all those involved in the delivery of the full range of child services.
2. PRIMARY LEVEL

 
0. By 1996, the primary school age population (5-11+ age group) will be approximately 214,000. By the year 2000 it is projected to rise to some 227,000. These increases will result in shortfalls of 24,499 primary school places by 1996 and some 37,499 by the year 2000. In order to ensure universal primary education, there will be need for the construction of some 51 new schools by the year 2000 at a total cost of TT $183.35 million (See Table I for an annualized construction schedule)
TABLE I
 
 

CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULE AND CASH FLOW PROJECTIONS (1993 - 2000)

 Number of Schools to be built by Educational Regions




Year	St. George West	St. George East	St. Andrew St. David	Caroni	Nariva / Mayaro	Victoria	St. Patrick	Tobago	Total No. of Schs/ Capital Costs
(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)	(7)	(8)	(9)	(10)
1993	1	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	5
$M	3.48	3.48	0	3.48	0	3.48	3.48	0	17.4
1994	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	9
$M	3.55	3.55	3.25	3.55	3.25	7.10	3.55	3.35	31.15
1995	2	1	1	1	0	2	2	1	10
$M	7.25	3.63	3.23	3.63	0	7.25	6.65	3.33	34.97
1996	2	1	0	1	0	2	1	0	7
$M	7.4	3.7	0	3.4	0	7.4	3.4	0	25.3
Sub-Total	6	4	2	4	1	7	5	2	31
$M	21.68	14.36	6.48	14.06	3.25	25.23	17.08	6.68	108.82
1997	1	0	1	1	0	1	1	0	5
$M	3.78	0	3.38	3.78	0	3.78	3.48	0	18.2
1998	1	0	1	0	1	1	1	1	6
$M	3.85	3.85	0	3.85	3.45	3.85	3.55	3.55	25.95
1999	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	0	6
$M	3.93	3.93	0	3.63	3.53	3.93	3.63	0	22.58
2000	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2
$M	4.	0	0	0	0	3.80	0	0	7.80
GRAND TOTAL	10	5	4	6	3	11	8	3	50
$M	37.24	22.14	9.86	25.32	10.23	40.59	27.74	10.23	183.35


 

SOURCE: Ministry of Education, Planning Unit




3. SECONDARY LEVEL

 
0. At Secondary level, the shortfall in accommodation for the 12 - 16+ population will necessitate the provision of some 49 schools between 1993 and 2000 at a total cost of TT $1,140m. (See Table II).

 

 
 






TABLE II

DISTRIBUTION OF SCHOOLS TO BE BUILT ACCORDING TO

EDUCATIONAL REGION AND CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULE (1993 - 2000)
 
 

Number of Schools to be built by Educational Regions




Year	St. George West	St. George East	St. Andrew St. David	Caroni	Nariva / Mayaro	Victoria	St. Patrick	Tobago	Total No. of Schs/ Capital Costs
(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)	(7)	(8)	(9)	(10)
1993	1*	1*	0	1*	0	1*	0	0	4
$M	20	20	0	20	0	20	0	0	80
1994	0	1*	1+	1*	1+	1*	0	0	5
$M	0	21.14	19.14	21.14	19.14	21.14	3.55	3.35	108.6
1995	1*	1*	1*	1*	1+	1*	1	1	8
$M	22.29	22.29	20.29	22.29	20.29	22.29	20.29	20.20	170.23
1996	1*	1*	1	1*	1+	1*	1	1	8
$M	23.43	23.43	21.43	23.43	21.43	23.43	21.43	21.43	179.44
Sub-Total	3	4	3	4	3	4	2	2	25
$M	65.72	86.86	60.86	86.86	60.86	86.86	45.27	44.98	538.27
1997	1*	1*	1	1*	1	1*	1*	1	8
$M	24.57	24.57	22.57	24.57	22.57	24.57	24.57	22.57	190.56
1998	1*	1*	1	1*	1	1*	1*	1	8
$M	25.72	25.72	23.72	25.72	23.72	25.72	25.72	23.72	199.76
1999	1*	1*	0	1*	0	1*	1*	0	5
$M	26.86	26.86	0	26.86	0	26.86	26.86	0	134.3
2000	1*	0	0	1*	0	1*	0	0	3
$M	28	0	0	28	0	28	0	0	84
GRAND TOTAL	7	7	5	8	5	8	5	4	49
$M	170.87	164.01	107.15	192.01	107.15	192.01	122.42	91.27	1146.89


 

* 1200 Model + 800 Model

SOURCE: Ministry of Education, Planning Unit

1.8.1 If we strive merely to maintain the current 70% primary to secondary transition rate then we need only construct 21 new schools at a total capital cost of TT $400m (See Table III)
 
 



TABLE III

MAINTENANCE OF 70% PRIMARY TO SECONDARY TRANSITION RATE

DISTRIBUTION OF SCHOOLS TO BE BUILT ACCORDING TO

EDUCATIONAL REGION AND CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULE (1993 - 2000)

 Educational Region
 

	1993 $M	1994 $M	1995 $M	1996 $M	1997 $M	1998 $M	1999 $M	2000 $M	TOTAL $M
St. George West	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
St. George East	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0
St. Andrew/ St. David	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
Caroni	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Nariva/ Mayaro	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0
Victoria	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
St. Patrick	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Tobago	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	0
TOTAL CAPITAL  COST $M	58	58	76	38	40	36	38	56	400

SOURCE: Ministry of Education, Planning Unit




1. We must then attempt, through a series of alternative measures to cater for the additional 30%. These measures include the following:

1. Extend, to accommodate no less than 800 pupils, all those secondary schools that now operate below this optimum size.

 
2. Upgrade and extend the "post-primary" facilities into fully-fledged integrated secondary schools preparing students for vocations and re-entry into secondary schools.

 
3. State purchase of additional places in private secondary schools.

9. COMPLEMENTARY MEASURES FOR SUSTAINED IMPROVEMENT

9. In order to guarantee quality and sustain improvement in the manner suggested, the following complementary measures with their cost implications must be taken into account.

1. The continuous in-service upgrading of the skills and abilities of key personnel at Central Administration and of school managers (Principals and Vice Principals at primary and secondary levels) at a rate of 200 officers per annum for the period 1994-2001.

 

 
 
 

This is estimated to cost TT $190,000 per annum at a total cost of TT $1,520,000.

This would enhance policy reform capability, improve school management, secure the nuturance of the professional commitment and performance of teachers, and thus contribute to the overall efficiency of schools.
 

2. The establishment of a fully trained teaching service at both primary and secondary levels by the year 2001 would necessitate at a minimum the bringing on stream of additional accommodation at Teachers' College level, if the 3,500 more trained teachers necessary to maintain universal primary education are to be produced. The additional provision for an annual output of 320 trained teachers and accommodating 640 teachers is estimated to have a capital cost of TT $12m and an annual recurrent expenditure of $768,000.

• (All costing in this Sub-section have been supplied by the Educational Planning Unit - Ministry of Education.)

1. The continuous upgrading of the skills, abilities and cultural sensitivities of our teachers through three-month refresher programmes and retraining and retooling courses catering for some 300 teachers annually. This will provide upgrading for 2,400 teachers at an annual cost of TT $1.8m and an estimated total cost of $14, 400,000 over the 1994-2001. This would further ensure that teacher skills and abilities throughout the system are adequately sustained thus promoting continuity and enhanced productivity through humane and psychologically sound teaching methods and modalities of assessment. It would also reinforce teacher satisfaction as teachers gain more knowledge and understanding about their own efficacy and are encouraged by such understandings to use their skills and abilities to the fullest.

 
2. The continuation of the policy regarding the introduction of Heads of Departments in all Secondary Schools is critical to the School-Based Management and cost-effective school-based teacher training which must follow on the full implementation of the proposals in this plan. This is estimated to cost some $550,000 per annum or $4.4m over the period 1993-2001.

 
3. Increased remuneration for the improved qualifications in the educational service is estimated to cost about $10,264,000 over the eight years between 1994-2001.

 
4. The issue of the most efficient and effective teacher-pupil ratio, depending as it does on other factors such as the quality of the learning environment, the social background characteristics of learners, the skills and abilities and sensitivities of teachers, is never easy to resolve.

1. As an integral part of this thrust towards the establishment of an improved quality of education for all our citizens, we must expand and improve our provision for pupils with special needs and for Early Childhood Care and Education.

 
2. Private Special Schools should be given access to the training and professional preparation courses and programmes outlined above, at subsidized rates, or in "swap" arrangements involving the provision of places for state sponsored students in their institutions.

 
3. Over the last three decades we have attempted to promote educational development through comprehensive type innovations inspired by the Human Capital Revolution in the 1960's (See Draft Educational Plan 1968-83). Piece-meal implementation of that package, and lack of sustained and informed policy reform, inter-alia, dogged the successful pursuits of policy goals in that Plan.

 
4. The changed socio-economic circumstances of the 1970-74 period inspired a focus on our specific cultural context and some initial participatory micro-planning efforts in education. The oil-boom reversed this trend; the oil shocks of the early eighties spawned the imperatives of adjustment, and the stabilization and structural adjustment developments of the late nineteen eighties and early nineteen nineties now make it necessary for us to restructure our educational service and begin to develop that genuinely participatory culture which is the hallmark of institutional strength; the type of institutional strength that will sustain the policy reform capability we need if we are to achieve the policy goals spelled out in this section. As we have said before, we must sustain a vision of educational development as forever urgent and unfinished business.