Minister of Education, Culture, Sports & Youth Affairs, Honorable Rhoda Arrindell
The year 2010 brings to an end the first decade of the 21st Century. It will go down in history as a year of transition and transformations, particularly in the political and constitutional spheres. It is a year in which we have witnessed significant transformational shifts in our political constellation and a whole new constitutional structure which has brought with it additional responsibilities for St. Martin.
Taking stock of what 2010 has meant for us, we can all be thankful first of all, for health and being alive to witness the dawn of a new decade. This was a year that started with a bang, literally and figuratively. The earthquake that destroyed Haiti not only took thousands of lives and inflicted millions of dollars in material damage, but continues even on the eve of its first anniversary to have lingering effects of gigantic proportions.
Disaster was not far from us in 2010, but it eluded us, I believe by some Divine intervention. But as we count our blessings, we must also be mindful of the challenges we face as an emerging nation.
2010 has been a mixed bag in terms of our successes and failures. In the educational field, while we can bask in the exemplary performance of our students in the CXC exams, with the St. Dominic High scoring 97% pass rate while the St. Maarten Academy recorded a 100% pass rate. Why then, with this kind of results, does the notion persist that our educational system is in shambles? The answer or answers may be in the perception of a significant drop in the level of discipline of our students as well as in the much-publicized increase in youth violence both on school premises as well as on school buses.
These are real issues which go beyond the school grounds and open up a critical window into what may or may not be happening at home. Parental responsibility and involvement in the educational process is crucial to finding lasting solutions to these behavioral problems. In the New Year, my ministry will focus even more on how to enhance this involvement by seeking ways to make the PTAs more active participants in the process through a stronger collaboration with the private sector, particularly employers.
Fellow St. Martiners, residents of our beloved island:
One of the priorities of the ministry in the New Year will be to undertake a comprehensive study of the root causes of violence among our youth—including gang violence—with a view to tackling the issue from a scientific and holistic point of view.
But as bad as the situation might be with regards to violence in our schools, I am convinced that we do not give enough credit to the majority of our students who do not have behavioral issues. To them we owe words of encouragement; for their sake, we need to bring the necessary balance to our perspective. They are the ones who make us proud during graduation ceremonies. They are the ones who make us believe in the glorious future of our island nation. What I am saying is that we should not allow the few bad apples to dampen the light of the many good ones.
Teachers hold the key to the success of our students. Professional, dedicated teachers who see their job as a vocation. Molding the minds of our young ones is one of the greatest tasks we are called to perform in the development of our nation. I admit that not all is well with our teaching corps, but in conjunction with the WITU, we are working on improving not only their working conditions, but also their performance and professionalism.
The physical state of some of our schools requires upgrading. The learning environment needs to be brought up to standard in order to produce the kind of results we all desire. Priority attention will be given to improving the physical conditions of our schools, and where it is deemed necessary, new schools will be constructed. However, my focus will be on programs rather than on buildings; programs which will transform the minds of our young ones more than buildings where they will be confined to antiquated methods and the same ineffective approach to learning.
With regards to culture, 2010 has been indeed a year of transitions and transformations. We have had to bid farewell to several leading performers and cultural workers—Playwright/actor/director and film-maker Sir Ian Valz, young dancer Khimouy Antoine, choreographer and dance instructor Cees van Dolderen, poet and folklorist Laurelle "Yaya" Richards, and others who have passed on to greater glory. Their legacy lives on and will surely follow us into the New Year and beyond.
Our cultural workers continue to demonstrate that talent is not bound by size or political status. Dancer Nicole de Weever has spent the entire year on Broadway as a featured star in the Tony Award-winning hit musical FELA! Nicole is not only a delight to watch on stage, alongside the likes of Patti Labelle, but is also on the marquee of the Eugene O’Neil Theater, where the show has been attracting stars and VIP guests such as Denzel Washington, Oprah Winfrey, and Michelle Obama, to name a few all year long. Nicole has already been named a Cultural Ambassador of St. Martin and is surely destined for greater stardom.
On the literary front, Lasana Sekou continues to dominate St. Martin, nay, Caribbean letters like a colossus. His works have not only been translated into Spanish and French, opening up new readerships in places like Mexico, Cuba, and French Guiana, but also have become study material at universities in the UK, Canada, the US, and all around the world. He has taken his poetry to places as far-flung as Turkey, South Africa, and China and continues to produce first-class books through his House of Nehesi Publishers Foundation, one of the leading publishing houses in the region, thus contributing to the development of literature and the discovery of new writers, not only on St. Martin but throughout the Caribbean!
Of course, there are others, like Deborah Drisana Jack, who continue to make a name for themselves in literature and the arts, with little or no government support. Names such as Ruby Bute, Max Phelipa, Mosera, Cynric Griffith, Roland Richardson et al. have turned St. Martin into a center for the Plastic Arts through their dedication and commitment to excellence. I salute them and hold up their exemplary spirit as a banner that distinguishes our artists and our island.
Music is a universal language which St. Martiners speak fluently and with flair. The versatility of our musicians who can play any genre of music with the same artistry and perfection as they dish out calypso or soca numbers is the envy of the whole Caribbean. Isidore "The Mighty Dow" York, the creator of the St. Martin Rumba, moves with ease from singing his popular soca compositions to playing pan and directing the island’s premier steelpan orchestra. Dow has taught over 700 St. Martin youth how to play the steelpan, and the fruits of his labor are evident in the stellar achievements of the group "Chrome Tone," currently in The Netherlands where they have been flying the St. Martin flag very high in a musical competition in which our youth continue to excel.
What can be said about the enduring work of the ever so young Tanny & the Boys? They have become musical icons of legendary longevity. King Beau Beau, Emperor Brat, King Timo, Fish the Boss, Mighy Greg, and Mighty Calix, and all the other calypsonians, not to mention such great musicians like Anastacia Larmonie, Connis Vanterpool, Carlyle Barriteau, Nigel Williams, Funk Gumbs, and several others who are offering their talents professionally in distant shores, are all cultural workers bringing fame and glory to our island. Their work, as is the case with the works of multi-talented artists such as Clara Reyes and others show the dynamism of our culture and that the only thing constant about it is change.
In the words of Lasana Sekou, "Culture is borning change/change is borning culture culture/ is borning we is/borning culture culture is borning/we is borning change is borning borning/is borning us."
Fellow St. Martiners:
No nation has ever achieved any meaningful development without this being based on its culture. To develop culture is, therefore, to develop ourselves because culture is who we are. And we are builders, nation builders, laying solid foundations for a St. Martin nation that dares to be more than its geographic size may suggest; that dares to be greater than the sum total of its component parts; greater even than what our forefathers dreamt of. We are builders of a new Caribbean nation who defy the limitations imposed on us by our history because we embrace a destiny that is beckoning on us to rise above the expectations of those who know little about our resilience, and doubt our determination to be much more than they think we can be.
A lot may not seem to be happening in the field of sports, but the potential is there in abundance, waiting to be tapped. And now that we don’t have to depend on others for the opportunity to develop our sports, we can indeed look forward to a new era in which the necessary foundation will be laid that would yield sporting champions nurtured on this 37-square-mile nation.
Fellow St. Martiners, residents of our beloved island:
In less than a hundred days in office, it is impossible to bring about all the necessary changes we all are looking forward to. I wish I could wield a magic wand that would transform this island into the nation we are now more conscientiously engaged in building. But block by block, floor by floor, we shall construct this new edifice, each of us contributing his or her own share, until a new St. Martin emerges where we shall be free to pursue our individual dreams with creativity and resourcefulness, with pride and dignity, in peace and unity, with love and dedication.
St. Martin is indeed my home, as Lino sings so beautifully. I’m sure it is yours too. It is an island bubbling with energy and full of promise. We are St. Martiners not only because we were born here, but because we love this island and want to see it become a beacon onto others. A beacon of hope; an island of peace and harmony in a tumultuous world. Together, I’m sure, we can make it shine even brighter for our children, and our children’s children.
I wish to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a very happy and prosperous New Year in good health, and ready to work for the good of our beloved island.
I thank you.