BVI News

More schools needed! Wheatley announces Junior High plans

Dr Natalio Wheatley

Education Minister Dr Natalio Wheatley announced his intention to establish several new Junior High Schools across the territory within the coming years.

“We need more schools,” Dr Wheatley said. “Right now we have plans, we’re moving forward steadily with plans for junior high schools.”

Dr Wheatley said the government intends to first implement a junior high school in West End, Tortola at the site of the Isabella Morris Primary School that was damaged during the September 2017 hurricanes, Irma and Maria.

He revealed that there was money in this year’s budget to implement the first school.

“Instead of bringing it back as a primary school – because, of course, the schools down on the west usually have a smaller population and Leonora Delville [Primary School] can sustain those who were going to Isabella Morris – we bring it back as a junior high school,” Dr Wheatley said.

He said while the administration also intends to build a school in East End, the population on the eastern end of Tortola is too large to open a school there without first building a “significant piece of educational infrastructure in the east”.

He said the challenge has been to find an appropriate spot; adding that the government is working hard towards this.

The Education Minister said an additional school is being planned for the central area of Tortola as well. A building design for this project is currently underway, he stated.

“We are going to make it happen,” Dr Wheatley stated emphatically while noting that the initiative was talked about in the past but never come to fruition. 

Following the hurricanes in 2017, the previous National Democratic Party government had announced that considerations were being made to have junior high schools on the western, eastern, and central sections of Tortola.

Money has to come from somewhere

Commenting on the source of the funding, which he suggested will be drawn largely from a remittance tax implemented by the government last year, Dr Wheatley said: “The money has to come from somewhere, and these same educational institutions benefit persons not just from the BVI, but from other places as well.”

The minister further said he felt the schools are too big — especially the Elmore Stoutt High School — and the population needed to be reduced so they are easier to manage.

He commented that building schools is a worthy cause for some of the funding from the government’s seven percent tax on remittance services.

Over $2M collected from gov’t money transfer tax so far

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26 Comments

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  1. Schups says:

    Boy go sit the f**k down talking nonsense!

    Like 24
    Dislike 8
  2. Jackie Long says:

    Get rid of this guy!!!!!!!!! He can’t get our kids in school full time and still talking. He’s the biggest embarrassment of all the representatives.

    Like 34
    Dislike 8
  3. Jokes says:

    You can get the ones you have up and running but want to add more?
    Make it make sense

    Like 39
    Dislike 3
  4. Look says:

    Step down from minister of education, agriculture and all those other names.

    Like 21
    Dislike 3
    • Careful ..... says:

      Yes, we all now seeing the list circulating of farmers and fisherman you paid with our tax money during lock down. I know one person you paid for sure is dead (because I was at the funeral), some paid are living in the USA, and others never even owned an aquarium or even worked a garden in their life. Yet they get checks of $12,000 to $22,000 plus. Set of all of you make me sick.

      Good thing the media is protecting you and your cronies because the silence is telling.

      Like 37
  5. Pandora's Box says:

    Only now you are coming with this $hit? WTF man!!! Clown and Jester all rolled into one!

    Like 14
  6. heckler says:

    Well son, your political life is just about over in 22 months. Unfortunately you or your party wont be in there to see that happen

    Like 16
  7. Sick ah him says:

    can you talk now about more schools when you can’t even get the one high school assembled for children to learn? Dr. DoLittle please go away. Please.

    Like 16
  8. Mad Max says:

    Fix the current schools first!

    Like 21
  9. ... says:

    Stop trying to show up yourself and get the Territory’s Educational Priorities in Order. Despite the need for a Junior High School( which would need to be built) let Us get the present Buildings that supposedly to house School Children in proper organization.

    Also, Mr. Minister, the Territory has been without a main Public Libray for too long. It’s becoming too overbearing and disheartening to see more focus being given to all different aspects except the aforementioned.

    Mr. Minister, I for one am beginning to loose trust and integrity in what You portrayed to be in Your Portfolio. The Ministry of Education and Culture should be just that and the Portfolio of Agriculture and Fisheries should be headed by another Portfolio. I believe as a New Minister, there is more than You can handle on Your Desk. You are all over the Place. You can’t seem to multitask or multimanage Your Ministries.

    Like 13
    • Look says:

      Don’t give any ideas because if he was organized and focused our children would have been back to school. When your plate full you prioritize but it’s our fault because if you can’t manage a lil classroom and mark papers on time that says something. We don’t want to hear nothing bout plate full. Enough is enough

      Like 10
  10. SOOOOO, OKAYYYY says:

    THE MONEY THAT WILL BE WASTED ON BUILDING NEW SCHOOLS WHY NOT USE THE MONEY TO WORK ON THE FIXING UP THE SCHOOLS THAT IS IN NEED OF FIXING. BUILDING OFNEW HIGH SCHOOLS IS SIMPLY PUTTING A BANDAGE ON THE PROBLEM.MR. EDUCATION MINISTER, PLEASE DO US A FAVOR AND STEP DOWN AS EDUCATION MINISTER. YOUR CORPORATION IN THIS MATTER IS TRULY APPRECIATED.

    Like 7
    Dislike 1
  11. heckler says:

    All we need is a new minister of education

    Like 11
    Dislike 1
  12. bad news day says:

    BVINEWS are you having a slow news day? try not to give this dr phed in african studies and poems any airtime. print some nursery rhymes instead

    Like 14
  13. Mr weatly says:

    U sure u be in government for the next couple years to come ..

  14. MINISTER WHEATLEY says:

    VY,VY, VY. I AM SO GLAD THIS IS MY DAUGHTER LAST SCHOOL YEAR IN THE BVI SCHOOL SYSTEM. SHE WILL BE WISKED OFF TO AMERICA TO CONTINUE HER EDUCATION.

  15. @ BIG youth says:

    CHILD you ain’t ready yet -?

  16. Resident says:

    Good ideas Mr. Minister.

    Please work on that. Also work on getting the teacher training program at HLSCC back up with strong training in building content. Too many of our teachers are lacking in that area especially in Language.

    Like 6
    Dislike 5
  17. home says:

    If you enforce the immigration laws where if children who reside in the territory on their parents time are required to be in private school then maybe the schools wouldn’t be to small. With the increasing number of expatriates on work permit is impossible to continue to offer free education to all their kids as well.

    Like 6
    Dislike 5
    • Interesting says:

      We are told expats aren’t allowed in public schools. This obviously holds back the public schools so is quite a strange thing. Segregation was bad when USA did it…
      And if they paid a small fee too, it could help resource the schools properly. The way that the schools have been failed after Irma and Covid is a national embarrassment and a crime on our children

      Like 1
      Dislike 1
  18. @Resident says:

    The idea for the junior high school were that of Myron and the NDP and the same present M*++ Minister of Education and their supporters nearly had Myron’s head for lunch.. He need to give us a d**n break and go and deal with matters at hand before chatting p**s. Our poor children are the ones who are suffering.

  19. Dr. DoLittle says:

    Myron’s plan again. This minister has no plan for anything. But you need to fix the mess you created before you start talking about other schools Dr. DoLittle.

  20. Too much says:

    Time to march. Our basic needs are not even being met – water, sanitation, education… where is the money going?!

    On schools, why are they excluding non-belongers? Increasing integration and cash flow and standards would benefit everyone. Get proper teachers in and get all of the public and private schools to aim at the best systems in the world. It’s to a difficult concept for a place with a large budget that’s the size of a small village. We can do better.

    Like 2
    Dislike 1

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