Basseterre, 8th October 2012 — On Saturday 6th October 2012, parents, mentors, facilitators, Principals, mentors and teachers all gathered at the Zion Moravian Church to show their solidarity to the graduants. Decked in their golden gowns, reminiscent of glowing, rising stars, the seventy seven (77) graduants were conferred with certification to attest to their successful completion of the A Ganar programme.
Remarks were delivered by A Ganar Country Coordinators, Mrs Elneth Toussaint-Harvey and Miss Ruby Thomas, Director of the National Skills Training Program Mrs June James and Mr Analdo Bailey was the featured speaker. The Chief Education Officer, Mrs Clarice Cotton and Learning Support Coordinator Mrs Eleanor Phillip presented the certificates to the graduates. Senior Assistant Secretary Miss Jacqueline Flemming and Assistant Secretary, Mrs Lorozine Williams were also in attendance at the ceremony.
The alliance between the Ministry of Education and Partners of the Americas was formalized in December 2011 when the Ministry was contracted to train 120 of the nation’s youth using the four-phased A Ganar methodology. Confident that this unique, sport-based programme will be beneficial to the students, the Ministry decided that their target group would be students at the lowest streams of the fourth form level. The participating institutions included Basseterre High School, Washington Archibald High School, Charles E. Mills Secondary School, Cayon High School, Project Strong and National Skills Training Program.
Phases 1 and 2 were run concurrently from January to July. Some schools had employability (Phase 1) training on Tuesdays or on Fridays and on Thursdays all participants went to their respective sites where training in the technical area (Phase2) of their choice was done. Phase 3 of the program allowed for participants to be attached to local businesses to demonstrate the skills that they had acquired throughout the programme.
The A Ganar Secondary Schools Work Based Program is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) to the tune of US$55,200. Partners of the Americas, the international coordinating institution and USAID joins with the local A Ganar team and the Ministry of Education in congratulating the graduands who are now equipped with employability and life skills to become positive contributors to our beloved Federation.