Matter fixed?

Sports competitions among the secondary schools are expected to resume during the second term of the current academic year.{{more}}

Reports are that a high powered meeting last Monday involving top officials from the Ministries of Education and Sport, as well as members of the Physical Education and Sports Teachers’ Association (PESTA), paved the way for the restart of these activities.

Things between both Ministries came to a head last year September when directives were given debarring personnel from one Ministry from going into the schools, with a reciprocal action taken by the other.

This was the beginning of the stand off.

A call by an official from the Ministry of Education, last December, who offered the “Olive Branch”, did little to pour cold water on the situation.

However, a Memorandum of Understanding outlining the functions of officials from both Ministries was being worked on, which should see an end to the protracted impasse.

The roles and responsibilities of the persons attached to the two entities have been fine tuned, as the two seek to co-exist.

It is expected that a professional relationship be in train among the said personnel.

It was this aspect of personality clashes that fuelled the fall out, resulting in several sport initiatives in both the secondary and primary schools being shelved in the past months.

Among the programmes stalled were the Kiddy Cricket, the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation Schools’ Programme. There was also no Cricket, Table Tennis nor Basketball competitions, during the 2007-2008 academic year.

With things shaping in the other direction, reports are that the Athletics and Cricket competitions, which are always slated for the second term, should go ahead, with Football and Netball, which are fixtured for the first term, to be slotted in sometime during the remainder of the school year.

It was reported that with the first term already truncated by several factors, and examinations in the secondary schools set for later this month, the decision was taken to look at January as the likely restart date.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines will host the 2009 Windward Island Secondary School Games, and it was thought that it was necessary to have some competitions so as to facilitate the selection of this country’s team.

The officials have also been mandated to look favourably at the primary schools’ programme, with a view to have some sporting activities for those under the age of 13.

Also expected to return are some of the major committees that provided the scaffolding to the administration of school sports. (RT)