Dr. Modeste-Curwen: Education can move us out of poverty


New Tourism and Culture Minister, Dr. Clarice Modeste-Curwen sees education as the driving force that can move this country out of poverty and to achieve a higher standard of living for the population.
Dr. Modeste-Curwen was at the time delivering the feature address at the annual presentation ceremony of the Sir Royston O. Hopkin Scholarship Fund.

Eight students will this year benefit from the scholarship fund. Six of those students are from the Grand Anse Roman Catholic School, and the other two are children of parents who are employed at Hopkin's luxury resort, Spice Island Beach Resort at Grand Anse, St. George's.

Dr. Modeste-Curwen applauded the generosity of Sir Royston to come to the aid of his employees. She said that many times, managers and business executives fall short in looking after the needs of their own staff.

"I trust that all of us, as employers, will be encouraged to look at our staff and to create opportunities for them, to show them our appreciation for what they do," she remarked.

The Lady Minister urged the young students to look at the example being set by the island's leading hotelier in showing appreciation to his staff. She noted that some of the beneficiaries might one day become managers or corporate owners and should, therefore, see the importance of treating their staff with dignity, care and love.

Dr. Modeste-Curwen made a plea for people on the island to have a better appreciation for tourism. She said that while tourism has become the largest engine of growth for development in Grenada, surpassing agriculture, there are those who still do not know that the money used to purchase books and uniforms that are provided to students by  government comes directly from tourism.

The Tourism Minister applauded the investment being made by Sir Royston as a hotelier in Grenada.   She said that if tourism was not working for Sir Royston and his management team then he could not have given the 88 scholarships over the past 15 years.

"The exposure you (the scholarship awardees) will get over the years through Sir Royston Hopkin's Spice Hotel, ( I hope) that you will use that to find a profession, a career in tourism that you would like to get involved with for the future," she added.

"So if you choose a career in tourism you just cannot fail. There will more hotels in the country, there will be hotels that need upgrading in the country, and as Sir Royston said, there are job opportunities of every kind," she said. Minister Modeste-Curwen spoke of the need for Grenada to mould quality young people who can become people of character.

She said it does not matter the number of subjects the individual may have, but what is important is the character that has been formed by the educational opportunities that were provided to them.
"Let us not forget that education is not just the formal teaching that you get in the classroom, but education is the sum total of every experience that you would have had, be it in the classroom or in your communities," she said.

The senior Government Minister told the group of 47 students who are currently participating in the programme that the scholarship being provided will allow them to make the best of all of their experiences.

She said when all of those experiences are summed up, they will become persons who will make their community proud. She was confident that the experiences gained will not just benefit the one individual, or the parents, but the family, the community and Grenada as a whole.