It can also help us
with our traffic congestion issues

Introduction

There are quite a few public and private schools on the island of Providenciales. There are also a lot of communities and of course many people with children living in these communities. Believe it or not, many children go to schools in communities that do not reside in or reside nearby. The public schools are overcrowded and so there are no spaces available. Some schools have a better reputation in terms of the provision of quality education and so some parents enrolled their kids in schools that are not in their community. We also have another issue in that secondary education in the public school is split with the first three years being at A Louise Garland Thomas High and the final two years at Clement Howell High School. All of these issues are not only creating a lack of community spirit but also serious traffic congestion.

Therefore, I really think we need to explore and implement zoning for schools. I also think the Government should partner and engage with the private schools to assist in the implementation of this zoning initiative.

The number of schools on Providenciales

There are four public elementary schools on the island of Providenciales and one public middle school and one public high school. The Enid Capron Primary of Five Cays has 528 students. The Ianthe Pratt Primary of the Bight has 613 students. The Oseta Jolly Primary School of Blue Hills has 460 students, and The Thelma Lightbourne Primary of Long Bay has 462 students. This means there are 2,063 students receiving elementary education from the Public Schools. The A Louise Garland Thomas High School of Long Bay has 664 while the Clement Howell High has 436 students.

There are many private schools, but I do not have the population for those schools.

The population of Providenciales

The census of the TCI has not been revealed yet, but it is my understanding that the population of Providenciales is at least 40,000.

Why should zoning be considered?

We have a major traffic congestion issue in Providenciales, and I believe part of the problem is due to parents having to take their children all over the place for educational purposes. If children were to go to schools in the area, it could ease the traffic situation and make it more convenient for families.

Zoning will not only make education more accessible in the community but can also enhance the community, bringing the community together no matter who you are or where you are from.

The challenges with zoning

I know one of the biggest challenges with zoning is that our schools are already overcrowded and there are only a limited number of schools in the areas. Another challenge is that some parents will resist the change and will refuse to move their children. Also, the population in some areas is greater than others and it will be a challenge to spread the students across the schools evenly.

The ministry has a mandate that they must provide access to free education up to age 16. That is a challenge. However, it is so contradictory because Immigration Regulations 2017 requires a work permit holder to show that their child is registered in a private school.

How can we implement the zoning initiative?

The Government should make it mandatory that to attend any public school, you should attend a public school in your area, and you should demonstrate evidence that you reside in the area.  While I do not support the Government in building any new primary schools, I do believe that we do need two fully fledged High Schools. Therefore, Clement Howell should be from form one to form five and people living in that area should attend that school. Likewise, the ALGT High School should be expanded to form five and children living in the area or nearby should attend.

I also think once the Ministry has identified the number of children living in an area, the Ministry should partner with some of the private schools by providing grants to the private schools on the condition they reduced their fees so that Turks and Caicos Islanders can afford the private schools. This will also mean the Government will not have to build any additional schools.

Conclusion

 I know it used to take my family, and I have half an hour to reach school if we leave home by 730am. However, if we leave after 7:30am, it will take 45 minutes to an hour. Traffic Congestion is in horrible state and zoning of schools can help to alleviate that congestion.

We need to make some tough unpopular decisions and one of those decisions is to implement school zoning on the island of Providenciales. We also need to stop this negative attitude about public schools. Our public schools have some excellent teachers. Our classroom sizes are just too big, and we can eliminate this by ensuring that we enforced Immigration Regulations 2017.