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| Queen’s College??Principal, Dr. David Browne. (G. Brewster/BGIS) |
Queen’s College (QC) is working steadfastly to achieve a number of its strategic objectives for 2009-2013 including the construction of four classrooms, two science laboratories, another car park and the much highly touted QC pavilion.
This was stressed yesterday by Principal, Dr. David Browne, as he addressed an event that extended gratitude to the public for its show of support to the Give Back QC Pavilion Fundraising Drive and its Shine Concert.
Noting that he would like to see the QC Pavilion completed soon, Dr. Browne pointed out that Barbados had "a serious implementation deficit" and said, "We can talk [a lot ] of talk?? but when it is to do something?? we can’t get it done."
He pointed out that the condemned structure on the school field would soon be demolished to make way for the pavilion and said he envisioned it as a sports facility. "It is not just a matter of raising money and getting a pavilion and having it sitting down there. It will be a facility…that will be used in a scientific sense," Dr. Browne said, promising that it would house a computer lab to allow cricketers the opportunity to review techniques and improve upon these following practice sessions.
The Principal emphasised the benefits of the facility against the backdrop that the school’s sportsmen as well visiting teams were often challenged to find changing rooms or lunch areas. This lack of facilities, he added, may have contributed to the Barbados Cricket Association not approving an intermediate cricket team for the school.
Acknowledging that the school had already developed linkages with Tamarind Cove Hotel, where its orchestra was afforded opportunities to perform and with the University of the West Indies which sometimes conducted research at QC, Dr. Browne explained that the planned facility would strengthen this outreach. He said: "In this strategic plan as well, we have an idea that a school is not only a school in which people come and be educated but the school must reach out to its community,"??
It was also noted that the facility would assist the established partnership with four primary schools namely Grazettes, St. Stephens; West Terrace and Eden Lodge. It would allow for the staging of inter-primary school sports, concerts, speech days, graduations and "the bridging of the gap between primary and secondary schooling".
Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Ronald Jones, in his response urged Queen’s College to continue its multi-disciplinary focus on the academics, cultural and sporting exploits so as "to give students that basket of a variety of fruits so that they can impact on their school and community".??
He told the Principal that the implementation deficit, he alluded to did not always exist and queried whether in the public and private sectors it was a case of persons "not coming forward to give of their skills, knowledge and talent?? to move the system along at a more rapid?? pace".?? "Barbados is being exposed as a result of this very poor or slow implementation process. There are projects which fall maybe six or seven years behind and for a country there is a significant cost to slow implementation and it is something which we need to get rid of quickly," Mr. Jones maintained.
Expressing the hope that the proposed facility would be completed by September 2014, the Education Minister said the commitment by the Give Back QC Committee, sponsors and agencies was extremely important and should continue on behalf of the young people at the school. Mr. Jones stressed: "If we do not support our youth in reaching higher levels to properly self actualise, developing their potential and ensuring that their various competencies reach the highest levels, then we are essentially betraying them."??
The Give Back QC Committee revealed that the project had thus far raised over $600,000 – or over half of the estimated $1.2 million.