The $61,105,247 budget for 2011, represents a slender increase of 0.33 percent over that the allocation for 2010.
This information was disclosed on 14th December 2010 by Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Dr. Denzil Douglas during his presentation of the Budget 2011 address.
It was that that he explained that role that education continues to play in the development of the Federation of St. Christopher and Nevis.
“Education continues to play an important role in unleashing the inert abilities of our people and providing the human capital necessary to drive the development of St. Kitts and Nevis. Education is therefore one of the important pillars on which the development of our country stands…Our education system continues to be one of the most progressive in the region and now ranks in the top five in respect of the performance of our students in the CXC-CSEC and CAPE examinations.
“We can also be proud that our education system has, in large measure, achieved universal secondary education. Although over the years we have achieved much success, the Ministry will continue in its pursuit to improve performance while at the same time ensuring that more of our students graduate from high school with enough subjects that would allow them to go on to tertiary level education if they so desire.”
The White Paper on Education which was completed in 2009, “provides a blueprint for the development of the Education Sector over the period 2009 – 2019” and according to Dr. Douglas, measures have been adopted to facilitate the implemented of aspects of the White Paper in 2011.
“During 2011 various aspects of the White Paper will be implemented. To facilitate this, a White Paper Implementation and Monitoring Committee was established in February of this year to come up with an implementation schedule for the various plans and programmes in the White Paper.”
The empowerment of the Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) Council is also another area which the Prime Minister says will receive prominence in 2011.
“In addition, priority will be given to empowering the TVET Council and strengthening the National Skills Training programme in order to provide high quality technical vocational training for students and out of school youth who show a preference and an inclination for this type of training. The Saddlers Secondary School will feature prominently in the delivery of such training.”