By Robert Hart, Staff ReporterTHE DEBATE on Opposition Leader Edward Seaga's call for Government to abandon cost-sharing and financing of education through the Programme for Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) is set to continue next week after microphone glitches yesterday forced the suspension of contributions in the House of Representatives.
However, before the suspension of the debate, both Mr. Seaga and Minister of Education, Youth and Culture Maxine Henry-Wilson were able to cement their views on the matter at hand.
Mr. Seaga put forward a 12-point proposal aimed at reducing the cost of schooling to parents; increasing participation with better provision for books, lunch and transportation and raising standards by upgrading teachers and offering incentives, particularly to those who teach in rural and inner-city schools. These, he said, would go a far way in eliminating illiteracy and poor education.
Stating that the Government must assume the cost of education for all children up to 18 years old, Mr. Seaga said: "We face a new world today, one which is intolerant of ignorance which traps our children in the shell of an old world by lack of a proper basis in education."
BUDGET EXPENDITURE
Among the 12 proposals put forward were an increase of the budget expenditure on education from 10 per cent to 15 per cent; the use of the additional funds to take over basic school education, the construction of 70 new schools while upgrading the teaching staff in 1,700 existing schools and the improvement and expansion of the school feeding programme.
Mrs. Henry-Wilson, in her contribution, pointed out that, although she could not disagree with the Opposition motion in principle, "the question is, what is the reality.
"Very often we differ, not on the spirit of what we want to do, but what is possible at the time," she said. Mrs. Henry-Wilson indicated that the re-introduction of school fees in 1994 came after a study determined that the education system needed supplementing in terms of additional resources.
House Leader Dr. Peter Phillips, on the adjournment, told the House that both sides had agreed to examine the possibility of a single resolution that could be supported by both sides in a quest for the "best educational system.
"Education is not an issue on which we should be divided," he said. To this end, representatives of both sides will meet ahead of the continuation of the debate next Tuesday.
