New education grant system will be superior to old one — Premier

Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley suggested that the system that will be implemented for public grants, including those for educational purposes, will be much more superior than the one that obtained in the past.

Dr Wheatley said when he served as the Minister of Education, he distributed numerous educational grants and took much pride in this.

“…being able to help students, because of course they appeal to you, they tell you what difficulties they are having and you know, you feel a sense of pride to help them get to the finish line,” Dr Wheatley stated on the Umoja radio show recently.

“Actually, the system that we are implementing now I truly believe will be superior to the one that existed before,” he added.

He said this new system will have checks and balances to ensure that abuses are limited.

Dr Wheatley said the Commission of Inquiry report recognised there is a value in administrating the education grants and recommended for a panel of persons to do this.

The Premier also expressed hope that requests would not be delayed in the new system with the implementation of the new checks and balances being put in place.

Premier Wheatley said while it can be acknowledged that the BVI has challenges and problems, this did not make it any less than any other group in the world; particularly since first-world countries such as the United States and United Kingdom also have their fair share of challenges.

“One thing that will help us to grow and to develop is to acknowledge we have some areas that we need to solve,” he added.

He noted that although the situation seems negative, it can be turned into a positive and used as an opportunity to reform the territory’s systems and make the BVI a shining example to the world.