Education under the ULP regime is not working. Crime, unemployment and teenage pregnancy are rising. These are indicators of a country where education is not enhancing people’s lives. It is very sad, as many young people in SVG are seeing their life-opportunities disappear before their very eyes.

The visionary SVG Green Party has been saying for a long time that in order for SVG to build a strong and sustainable economy, our education system has to be driven by mathematics and science, like in Singapore, South Korea and Japan. We need laboratories in all our schools to achieve that objective. There is clearly no education revolution in SVG when there are no laboratories in SVG schools.

An education consultant from Europe, who is facilitating the teachers training workshop, said on SVGTV on the 7pm news on 8th April 2008, that SVG needs laboratories in all of SVG schools to facilitate children’s learning. The ULP regime has employed a consultant from Europe to tell us what we already know - Ralph Gonsalves’ leadership of SVG is a joke and education is failing!

The introduction of universal secondary education in SVG before introducing universal primary education, is like trying to teach children to run before they can walk. Schools without laboratories has been a very big mistake by the incompetent and sloppy ULP regime.

An in-depth analysis of the 2007 common entrance exam results has revealed that the ULP regime’s 2002 education strategy is not helping the children of the poor. Schools in areas of higher poverty have results showing that for every child passing the common entrance exam two children fail the common entrance exam.

Also, of the 64 schools that sat common entrance, not one school achieved the pass mark in mathematics. SVG Green Party highly recommends laboratories in all our schools and that a national budget offset be urgently made to bring needed resources in to education.

There are two common factors in countries with strong and sustainable economies: strong leadership coupled with an education system that is driven by mathematics and science. In SVG we are unfortunate to have weak leadership by Ralph Gonsalves coupled with an education system that is lacking in mathematics and science and failing our children.

SVG needs a new and positive direction. SVG Green Party has very strong leadership. SVG Green Party has the positive and innovative ideas and expertise to make SVG’s economy strong and sustainable, to create jobs and sustainable income for all families in SVG.

Let’s move forward to common sense education and an education system that values young people. Our children are victims of a broken education system and they are helpless to fix it as they cannot vote. We must show compassion and fix it for them by voting out this inept government.

Strong leadership and a strong economy driven by mathematics and science are the intelligent pillars of a Green government. We ask you all to give SVG Green Party your full support. SVG Green Party is eager to invest in our children and invest in their future, please show that you are.