BY COREY CONNELLY
http://www.guardian.co.tt/

Grenadian students have been enrolled at primary and secondary schools throughout T&T in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan, the Ministry of Education has said.

The ministry’s communications specialist Mervyn Crichlow said yesterday that some students were being put up by relatives and the initiative had been working well.

“We have asked schools to facilitate the admission of Grenadian students wherever possible,” he said in a telephone interview.

“Principals were asked to submit a breakdown of how many children they could accommodate. In several instances, principals required additional desks and chairs at their schools.”

Plans to accommodate Grenadian students— particularly fifth and sixth-formers—were implemented after Ivan wreaked havoc on Grenada on September 8, destroying about 90 per cent of its buildings as well as its thriving nutmeg industry.

However, Crichlow said the move was an interim one, and students would be required to return to Grenada once the education system was fully restored.

He could not give an estimate of the number of Grenadian students enrolled at local schools but said principals had been receptive.

“Principals have embraced the opportunity to assist as far as I know,” Crichlow said, adding that the ministry had been liaising with Grenada’s chief education officer.

During his opening remarks at the tenth special meeting of Caricom heads of Government, which ended last week at the Hilton Trinidad, Caricom chairman Dr Keith Mitchell also called on regional leaders to grant scholarships to Grenadian students employed in the hospitality industry.

Mitchell, Grenada’s prime minister, said youths who had graduated from hotel schools were unemployed and called for a regional effort to provide scholarships to create job opportunities for them.

He said the US had agreed to assist but the magnitude of the situation demanded more input.

Contacted yesterday, president of the National Parent-Teachers’ Association Zena Ramatali and TTUTA president Clyde Permell said they had not been in touch with the Education Ministry on the issue but promised to look into it today.