Government budget cut-backs have had a negative impact on the quality and number of programmes offered at the ESCAPE summer school program, according to Coordinator of the event Ms. Althea Allen. The grogram ran from July 23 to August 10, 2012.
The three-week program was cut by more than half the amount which is usually allocated in previous years, the program is just one of the many areas of that have felt the pinch of the cutbacks in the National budget allocated for education this year.
In 2011the sum of EC$125,343.86 was allocated for the summer program; this year the budget was reduced to EC$50,000.
Ms. Althea Allen told The Montserrat Reporter that, “It could have been better; I think the budget cutbacks caused a reduction in the number of registration for the program. This year with the cutbacks we were not able to offer all of the programs that we usually offer.”
According to Ms. Allen, this year they were not able to offer most of the art programs usually offered such as drawing and designs. She said children in the seven-year-old bracket usually take these courses and thus may have resulted in the reduction in participation from children within this age range.
This year a total of 130 youngsters attended the summer school; a reduction from last year’s 170 and featured youths from age 7 to 15.
The program featured courses in sports, craft, the arts and food preserves. It included: football, netball, cricket, steel pan, key board, guitar, tie dye, food preserves, needle craft, masquerade, costume making, drama and dance.
The Government Summer School program, renamed the ESCAPE program: Education, Sports, Creative Arts, Production and Exhibition, was initially under the direct administration of the Education Department, but now falls under the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports.
