King to tackle communication problems within ministry

Communication between the Ministry of Education and local schools is one immediate challenges that Curtis King hopes to address in his new role as this country’s minister of Education.

King assumed his position as head of the education ministry in November, following his success at the polls in the 2020 General Elections.

The minister, who is a former headmaster of the St Vincent Grammar School, was responding to a question posed on We FM’s ‘Issues at Hand’ programme on Sunday, where he listed communication between the ministry and schools as one of the issues he hopes to address.

“One of the challenges I had as an educator ….at that level at the school, is that very often, I did not get the impression that the Ministry’s policies were clearly communicated to us, so that we, at the level of the ministry and the school would’ve been working in tandem towards a particular target or targets,” King said.

During his appearance on Sunday’s programme, King touched on some of the challenges that are faced by the education ministry and which he plans to address during his tenure as minister.

He described himself as a hands-on individual who intends to have a strong presence in the functions of the ministry but said that his approach will not be one of interference.

“I recognise the difference between setting policies, which is basically what we will do as ministers in Cabinet and dabbling in the execution of these policies because there are clearly defined roles for policy makers and those who are charged with the responsibility of executing policies,” the veteran educator said.

King added: “so while I say I am direct, I want you to understand that is not my approach in terms of interfering so to speak with the day to day running of things but certainly, I am going to be in a position where I will know what is happening, and where interventions are necessary. I am not the kind of person who would back away from making those kinds of interventions”.