Education Minister Honourable Sharie de Castro has described her short time in this role as “uncomfortable” but assured that this was a necessary condition required to make the time productive.
She was speaking on a recent edition of the Government Information Service’s Public Eye programme, where she explored the intended trajectory of the education sector under the Territorial Education Theme “Full S.T.E.A.M Ahead”.
De Castro, who succeeded Premier Dr. The Honourable Natalio Wheatley as Minister for Education just four months ago, said “I believe that one of the things we’ve said is that there is need for change. As for the last four months, if I could sum it up, it’s been uncomfortable but one of the quotes that I’ve lived by for a very long time is that life begins at the end of your comfort zone. If you’re comfortable, you’re just existing but if you’re uncomfortable you’re living because you’re challenging yourself.”
“I believe that we’ve realised that there is room for improvement in education, there is room for advancement and there is a requirement on my end in terms of the government and there’s a requirement on my educators, parents, the community”, she added.
De Castro said that one of the necessities she has identified in pursuit of advanced education in the territory is to be guided by the relevant data and undergo the necessary policy development and implementation.
“What we’ve realised is that there’s a lot of raw data that enables us to make certain difficult decisions that we must make if we want to move education forward and fundamentally the hard work in that regard are the types of policies that are required”, she said.
Although the Minister noted that some of these policies are well in the draft stages, de Castro also said that some of this legislation is yet to be written.
Nonetheless, she explained that these policies will serve as the guidance required to propel the education sector forward in certain key areas.
“For instance, special education. How do we ensure that we create a policy and the legislation that allows for special education to continue to develop and blossom in the territory because we have exceptional students… Special education may speak to students who have challenges, but it also speaks to gifted children as well. So how do we create a program, create room to allow all students to thrive”, she said.
De Castro said that despite the difficulties of navigating the education sector, sometimes without all the tools required for advancement, her tenure has been rewarding because of the visible impact and difference being made, and the continued drive to foster more progress.