00:00 MyLight is a military-led academic training program, a social intervention program,
00:04 which is not conducted or supervised by the Minister of Education.
00:09 So how are you fitting students into that program?
00:13 The question Independent Senator Hazel Thompson-Ayee posed to Education Minister Dr. Nyan Gatsbidole
00:19 in the Senate on Friday, just one day after the Minister announced that Cabinet has given
00:24 the green light for expelled pupils from the Trinidad and Tobago school system to be transitioned
00:30 to the MyLight, the military-led academic training program.
00:34 This is a decision of the government, it's a policy of the government and it's arrangement
00:38 between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Youth Development that is guided
00:41 by an MOU.
00:43 The MyLight falls under the Ministry of Youth Development and National Service.
00:46 Expulsion of students by the Minister under certain circumstances.
00:51 MyLight is a special educational institution and can therefore accommodate the educational
00:57 continuity of students outside of the mainstream school system.
01:02 This is the legal framework which underpins the compulsory enrollment of students under
01:06 the age of 16 into MyLight.
01:09 The Independent Senator continued to seek clarification from the Education Minister.
01:14 For those students over the age of 16, while they are not required to compulsorily register,
01:21 the MOU will continue to recommend their registration at MyLight and assist in any way possible
01:27 to allow them to continue their education in that transformative environment.
01:32 So you are saying that you really have no authority because they are not under your
01:39 program.
01:40 MyLight is not run by you.
01:42 At times, Senate President Nigel De Fritos intervened.
01:45 So it is a policy and it is not a law.
01:52 You have no legal, that's really what you say.
01:54 You have no legal right.
01:55 No, Senator Thompson, you are making a statement.
01:58 Is there a question?
01:59 The Independent Senator again asked the Education Minister about her legal authority in the
02:04 matter.
02:05 Mr. President, on the basis of the advice from the legal department, the Minister of
02:09 Education is given the responsibility for the educational continuity of all of our students
02:15 under the age of 16 and to ensure that they are in educational institutions.
02:19 MyLight is such an educational institution and therefore the MOU between the Ministry
02:26 of Education and the MyDNS allows for the transition of students who are expelled from
02:31 the mainstream school system into the MyLight system to allow for their educational continuity
02:37 and to allow them a chance to develop into productive citizens.
02:42 During a media conference on Thursday, the Education Minister said 10 students had been
02:47 expelled from the school system this year, an increase from the three who had been expelled
02:52 last year.
02:53 Jule Brown, TV6 News.
02:55 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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