DURING the first month of the 2005 hurricane season the Barbadian public continues to make displays of solidarity to the people of Grenada who are still rebuilding from the devastation of Hurricane Ivan. The latest contribution comes from the school children of Barbados in the form of a monetary donation and a variety of canned food items. Parliamentary representative and Minister of Education, the Honourable Reginald Farley, presented a cheque totalling some EC$23,698.61 to the Chief Education Officer of the Spice Isle, Martin Baptiste during a brief presentation ceremony held at the Ministry of Education, Elise Payne Complex yesterday. According to Minister Farley, it was felt that it was important that local students made a direct contribution to their Spice Isle counterparts. "We therefore announced that the 11th of October last year would be 'Share and Care Day' in our schools, and that starting on that day and for some period after, we would encourage the children to make their own personal, financial or other material contributions to be directed towards children in Grenada," Farley stated. The Education Minister also on the behalf of local school children extended best wishes for the continued recovery of the Spice Isle. Farley added that the Education Ministry and the individual students within the Barbadian educational system stand ready to contribute the long term assistance necessary for Grenada to return to the previous levels of comfort in the East Caribbean territory. Baptiste expressed profound appreciation and thanked Minister Farley and the Barbadian school children for their support. According to Baptiste many of the curriculum guides were lost and the Barbadian Ministry of Education has been great assistance in reproducing them. Baptiste also stated that the challenge facing authorities in the Spice Isle was balancing the rebuilding and construction on the schools with the process of educating the students. So far though results have been encouraging. "The Common Entrance results this year were in fact a little better that last year. Which shows that in the face of adversary the human spirit and the human heart rise to the occasion," Baptiste commented. While work on some of the schools have been completed, the Chief Education Officer for Grenada stated that the upcoming summer vacation will be a very hectic time in terms of working on the schools. While stating that there have not be significant problems with the mobilisation of the necessary resources, with the entire country requiring rebuilding the biggest problem was one of a lack of manpower. Reprinted from barbadosadvocate.com