Early Childhood Education Centre Of Excellence Launched

The Ministry of Educational Transformation has underscored that contemporary early childhood education in Barbados is not day care.

This was highlighted by Minister of Educational Transformation, Chad Blackman, at the official launch of the Maria Holder Nursery School at Gall Hill, Christ Church, as a Centre of Excellence.

Mr. Blackman stated: “Under this universal pre-primary expansion programme, the Government is fully committed in ensuring that we increase the number of spaces available to accommodate three to five-year-olds in public nursery and primary schools across the country. We recognise that many families are eager to enrol their children in nurturing, high-quality learning environments, and we are therefore responding to that need with urgency, with purpose and with dispatch.

“Under the Ministry’s expansion programme, more parents will be able to choose public nursery schools that align with their values and their children’s needs. We believe that the provision of more spaces in our nursery and primary schools will increase equity and will ensure that no child is being left behind due to any lack of opportunity.”

Chief Education Officer, Dr. Ramona Archer-Bradshaw, said the Gall Hill school is “to stand as a beacon – a place where young minds are nurtured, where dreams take root and where the future is built, one playful, purposeful moment at a time”.

She urged: “Let this Centre of Excellence be a model for what early childhood education can and should be – a place where learning begins with wonder, and every child is empowered to thrive.”. 

The Maria Holder Nursery School operates at four locations – Gall Hill in Christ Church, Government Hill in St. Michael, Oldbury in St. Philip, and Sharon in St. Thomas – providing more than 500 nursery school places for children aged three to five. (PR/GIS)

Caption: Minister of Educational Transformation, Chad Blackman, and Chief Education Officer, Dr. Ramona Archer-Bradshaw, joined students and teachers for the official launch of the Maria Holder Gall Hill Early Childhood Development Centre of Excellence