The National Parent Teacher Association is sounding the alarm.. over the ripple effects of CEPEP contract terminations.., especially on the children of affected workers. Speaking at the NPTA's 65th anniversary celebration.., its president Walter Stewart.. called on the government to address the issue.. with urgency.
00:00With an estimated 10,000 former CPEP workers now on the breadline, the National Parent Teacher Association is lobbying government to think not just about them, but of the thousands of children who may now face uncertainty as the new school year approaches.
00:17And again, members, we are not condoning any ill intent in the program. But whilst the grass is growing, the horse is starving. So that whilst the government is putting things in place to ensure that they plug all the loopholes and all the gaps, there are parents outside there who do not know where their next meal is coming from.
00:42And we want to ensure, members, that we address this situation with great dispatch. We hear the cries of the parents. You go on social media, you go on mainstream media, and you see and you hear what is taking place with CPEP. And we cannot stand by and just wait and wonder what is taking place with CPEP.
01:05Stewart believes the CPEP program can be re-engineered to become a tool for upliftment, whereby the workers can be professionally trained in landscaping and maintenance and be put to work in schools and other areas.
01:19Even our schools and earn an income thereby. The same applies to agriculture. Let us use the CPEP program as a mentorship component in our economic system here in Trinidad and Tobago. Let us pair the employees of CPEP with contractors so that they can learn and understand the skill and they themselves can be contractors in the long run.
01:46The NPTA president also took the opportunity to respond to and make an appeal to police commissioner Alistair Guevaro after the top cop recently voiced a hard stance on school and discipline.
02:00He made a statement which caused me to stand up and look up. He said, and I quote, if you cannot control your children, we, the TTPS, will confine them.
02:17I want to humbly suggest to the commissioner invite the National Parent Teacher Association to a meeting. Let us sit down and see how collaboratively we can solve the crime situation in Trinidad and Tobago.
02:31You know, we are on the ground, we are in the communities, we are in the societies, and we have a role to play. And we can make that role not by castigating parents, throwing parents under the bus, but by seeking an avenue or avenues where, you know, parents can be helped.
02:48The NPTA president also had a message for the education minister and central government.
02:54I cannot stress enough the importance of plugging resources and financial resources at that into the education system, because if we get this thing called education right, ladies and gentlemen, people and social development, homeland security and defense,
03:14and all other associated ministries would have little or no to do, because certainly the education system is in solid ground.
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