MINISTER within the Ministry of Education (MoE), Nicolette Henry, has reminded that “each child should be treated with love, respect and dignity”.The MoE recently hosted its annual Christmas luncheon at the New Opportunity Corps (NOC), where the minister was joined by Permanent Secretary Alfred King; Director of Youth, Melissa Carmichael; Assistant Director of Youth, Leslyn Boyce; and other senior staff of that ministry, and Minister Henry made the foregoing remarks.

Minister Henry emphasised that the staff at the NOC should consider themselves privileged to be able to take care of the children. She added that regardless of the circumstances, the students must be treated with love, respect, compassion and dignity.
As the name of the institution suggests, the minister said, the staff should collectively work towards ensuring that the students are afforded as many ‘opportunities’ as possible –- especially educational opportunities — as this would see them being moulded into productive persons who are able to contribute positively to society.

Acknowledging that each child dreams of having a better life, Minister Henry urged the entire staff of the NOC not to disappoint the children.

In brief remarks, King recalled the success stories of a few young men who were students at the NOC and have gone on to do well for themselves. In this regard, he noted that administrators, policy makers and stakeholders should collectively work towards providing opportunities that would enable the students to lead productive lives.

He said it is important that quality educational and vocational skills training programmes at the institute be on par with what obtains at other educational institutions.

The students were treated to a hearty luncheon, and were able to interact with Minister Henry, Permanent Secretary King, and the other staff of the Education Ministry. The students also displayed their musical and dance skills.