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EXCERPTS
Government will be spending close to $24 million to establish 34 early child care educational centres.
Minister of Education Hazel Manning, speaking at the post-Cabinet meeting at Whitehall yesterday, said the cost to construct one centre was approximately $700,000 and establishment of these centres would take place in two phases, beginning before the end of the year.
In the first phase, 10 centres will be established and the remaining 24 will follow.
Manning said the Ministry of Education had conducted an experiment with two primary schools, the Las Lomas and St Joseph Government Primary Schools and received successful feedback.
The Minister said she envisaged that in the future all primary schools would have early child care centres. She said the child care centres were being attached to the primary level arm because of the "unavailability" of land and the "usefulness" of the primary schools to act as "feeder schools" to the centres.
Manning added that 37 school boards would be established; some would be boards of management for the future expansion of the early educational childhood programme.
- reprinted from the Trinidad and Tobago Express