ADDRESS BY THE RT. HON. HUBERT A. INGRAHAM, MP
AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING AND NAMING OF
THE JACK HAYWARD HIGH SCHOOL
THURSDAY, 29 JANUARY, 1998

Sen. The Hon. Dame Ivy Dumont; Minister of Education;
Hon. C.A. Smith, Minister of Tourism and MP for Pineridge;
Hon. O.A.T. “Tommy” Turnquest, Minister of Public Works and MP for Mt. Moriah;
Hon. Dion Foulkes, Minister of State in the Ministry of Education and MP for Blue Hills;
Hon. David Thompson, Minister of State in the Office Of the Prime Minister and MP for Marco City;
Mr. Lindy Russell, Parliamentary Secretary and MP for Eight Mile Rock;
Mr. Neko Grant, MP for Lucaya;
Mr. David Wallace, MP for West End and Bimini;
Mr. Kenneth Russell, MP for High Rock;
Sir Jack Hayward and Mrs. Hayward;
Mr. Edward St. George and Lady Henrietta;
Mr. Albert Miller, President of the Grand Bahama Port Authority;
Mr. Burton Miller, Chief Councillor and Members of the Freeport District Council;
Mr. Cecil Thompson, Education District Superintendent;
Mr. Hezekiah Dean, Principal;
Members of the Clergy;
Senior Government Officers;
Administration, Teachers, Staff and Students of the Jack Hayward High School;
Ladies and Gentlemen;

Good Morning:

It has been said, “if you plan for a decade, plant trees. If you plan for a century, teach the children.”

Certainly teaching the children is what we must all be about; the future growth and development of our communities and of our nation depend upon it. That is why my Government has been busy over the last five years, not only in planning for a decade and fostering greater awareness of our environment, but putting in place the infrastructure, the teachers, the materials and other resources – all necessary to improve teaching for the children of our nation – preparing for a century – getting ready for the new millennium.

Only yesterday, on reporting to the House of Assembly on a three year development plan for the College of The Bahamas, I recalled that since 1992 major construction, renovation and refurbishment of school buildings had been undertaken; teaching and support staff complements and expertise in the government-operated school system had been upgraded; and that the procurement and distribution of tuition supplies and equipment have been improved. In all, we have expended some $100 million on education; and as they say, “we’ve only just begun.”

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Providing universal education up to and including high school is always a challenge. Ensuring that such education is of good standard and adequate to prepare our young people not only to fulfill their personal goals and aspirations, but to enable them to fulfill the human resources needs of our society and to compete at the international level, are even greater challenges.

We who are fortunate to have charge of the Government of the Bahamas, accept that challenge. I believe that, by all standards, we are doing very well. I’ll tell you why.

First, we have improved the teacher student ratio appreciably. While the student population in Government operated schools has only increased by 671 in the past five years, from 46,459 to 47,130 the number of teachers engaged in the government operated schools has increased by some 523, from 2,488 to 3,011. Second, we have improved our classroom stock appreciably. Here, in Freeport, we have constructed, equipped and staffed a new primary school; assisted in the construction of a new special – needs school for the handicapped; and built two new high schools. During the same period, we constructed and equipped two new primary schools in New Providence; built a new primary school in Simms, Long Island and a new primary school in Marsh Harbour is virtually complete and repaired and/or refurbished virtually all 172 schools operated by the Government throughout the length and breadth of The Bahamas.

Despite these improvements, we have not yet met our goal of sufficiently reducing the size of classes in some 10% of Government operated schools. Additional expansion of our education plant is therefore still necessary. Larger than acceptable class sizes continue to exist at Pinewood, Gerald Cash and Sandilands primary schools and at the S.C. McPherson High School in New Providence.

Here in Grand Bahama, your new high schools built to accommodate 1,000 pupils each now have student populations of 1,241 (at Pioneer’s Loop) and 1,294 (at Goombay Land). And, notwithstanding the construction and opening of the new Hugh Campbell Primary School here in Freeport in 1994, the Walter Parker Primary School is still over-crowded requiring the Government to fund the attendance of Government School pupils at church-operated schools for the last two years (1996/97 and 1997/98).

Still to come are new primary schools in Mastic Point, Andros, another in Grand Bahama (in Yeoman Woods) and still another in Georgetown, Exuma; an additional high school in New Providence and yet another in Grand Bahama.

Clearly, the capital cost required to meet our educational demands is large. That is why the Government was delighted to accept the kind offer from the Grand Bahama Port Authority – Sir Jack Hayward and Mr. Edward St. George – of $7 million towards the cost of constructing this high school which I shall name shortly and your sister school which we shall officially name tomorrow.

I would be remiss therefore if I were not to acknowledge, recognize and express appreciation for the tremendous contribution of the Grand Bahama Port Authority to education here in Freeport.

May I also state at the outset – this is not a new role for the Port Authority or for its benevolent owner, Sir Jack Hayward whom we salute, applaud and honour today.

The Hayward Family are amongst the original pioneers and developers of this place – this City which, nowadays, we call Freeport. Sir Jack’s father, Sir Charles, would be pleased and proud to see how wonderfully the dreams he shared with others for what was their wilderness, turned out; he would be even more proud to know that an appreciative people, a grateful people are today honouring his son by naming this state-of-the-art high school after him. And he would be proud to know that this City which he so greatly contributed to building has now attracted to its environs first, international investors, and then, over the years, enterprising Bahamian Businessmen.

The Bahamas Government first received the agreement of the Port Authority to contribute toward the development of the educational infrastructure of this community in 1965 under the terms of an amendment to the Hawksbill Creek Agreement which required that the Port Authority provide for the construction of the Hawksbill Primary School and subsequently for the Hawksbill High School. That obligation was completed in 1968.

By the time my Party’s Government came to office in 1992, Freeport had completely out-grown the Hawksbill High School – an unwieldy Panelfab campus situated on both sides of a main thoroughfare. Hawksbill High School which was the largest high school in The Bahamas had become very difficult to manage as a comprehensive secondary and so we created out of it two schools – a senior high and a junior high.

It is no exaggeration to say that the monetary contribution by the Grand Bahama Port Authority toward the construction of this state-of-the-art high school made its construction possible early in my Government’s Administration and permitted other scarce public resources to be applied elsewhere in the country to meet other educational needs on other islands of our archipelago.

This school, the technical workshops, sports changing rooms and shower blocks were constructed at a cost of $7.4 million. The Port Authority’s contribution of $3.5 million – nearly half – plus the donation of twenty acres of prime land for the exclusive use of this school, made possible the transfer of more than a thousand students into this clean, pleasant learning environment, away from the smelly industrial emissions which plagued the old Hawksbill High School and which mitigated against the promotion of community involvement in the school’s development.

This school comprises some 56,000 sq. ft. of teaching and office space. It has 34 teaching classrooms; 14 laboratories, including science labs, a computer lab, a library, home craft center and tuck shop, administrative offices, staff room and requisite restroom facilities.

It has also been provided with four special technical and vocational buildings which permit the school to offer a wide range of commercial, technical and vocational classes including:

a) Art & Design;

b) Auto Mechanics;

c) Business Studies;

d) Cosmetology;

e) Computer Drafting;

f) Electronics

g) Environmental Science (inclusive of agricultural science, horticulture and scuba diving);

h) Home economics;

i) Hotel Catering

j) Music

k) Plumbing and Welding

l) Pre-allied Health; and

m) Technical Studies.

Additionally, phase I of the school’s auditorium has been completed.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I have been pleased to learn that this school is already functioning as a magnet school in the Freeport Community. I am told that this role will increase when the newly completed workshops become fully operational; that this school will maintain the tradition of its predecessor, the Hawksbill High School, which had placed emphasis on technical and vocational training when it was not fashionable to do so.

I am also pleased to learn that the emphasis on technical and vocational course offerings at this school has not diminished the attention placed on core subjects such as mathematics, language arts, science, social studies, religious studies and physical education – all crucial to the development of the well-rounded individual and all important if young persons are to become fully integrated members of our society.

And, I am pleased to learn that this school (though marginally) caters to children with special educational needs. You may recall in this regard, that during ceremonies to mark the official opening of the Beacon School, I alluded to the advice of education specialists who cautioned that students with special needs while benefiting from special programmes offered at schools for the handicapped also gain immensely from integration into mainstream schools, even if only for certain subjects or for limited periods of time.

This school, and others like it, must rise to this challenge and work toward the formulation of objectives, teaching strategies and curricula that cater to students with differing needs, including those of students with serious learning difficulties. After all, our society is representative of all types of intelligences and so will our schools be.

I daresay that this school would do well to establish itself as a pacesetter for comprehensive education at the secondary level in The Bahamas. I fully expect that administrators and teachers at this school will –

i) promote standards of behaviour that encourage the development of self-discipline, sound character and moral values and

ii) provide opportunities for the exploration of individual potential over a wide range of learning activities.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Not only are schools of this size and complexity very expensive to build and equip but their operational costs are also phenomenal.. Therefore, I do expect that the managers and occupants of this school, together with active family and community stakeholders, will strive to maintain and up-keep the school’s physical appearance and functionality to the greatest extent possible. This is your school. Be proud of it; treat it as you would your own home.

I especially wish to commend Mr. Fletcher McIntosh and FES Construction Company for the excellent workmanship and professionalism evidenced in the construction of this facility. You stand, Mr. McIntosh, as a testimony to the high and always improving standard of construction increasingly seen in our land today.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I say to teachers and administrators that they ought to strive to create at this school a sense of family, of belonging and of ownership. High standards are expected of the students and also those who instruct and train them.

It has been shown that when students view their school as a home away from home they accept responsibility for it and they gladly and willingly assist in taking care of it.

I feel certain that the support staff, together with all educational stakeholders, will spare no effort in promoting pride in ownership among those for whom the school has been established. The fostering of healthy student-teacher relationships must be a priority. But it is not enough for the school family to be diligent in this regard.

Parents and the wider community must also do their part to augment the school’s efforts by displaying community spirit and national pride. And, in this regard, I wish to advise that I confidently expect that when school reopens in September, 1998 this school will have its own elected School Board, just as all government-operated schools in New Providence now have, with much success. To facilitate this we will cause the Local Government Act to be amended to provide for the transfer of the responsibility for the day-to-day non-tuition operation of these schools from the Local Government District Council to the elected School Boards. I invite and encourage parents to offer themselves for election when the elections are held so that you may become a more integral part of your children’s school life.

It is to be hoped that the community of Grand Bahama will embrace this school. Corporate community and other educational partners for whom this school means so much will continue to contribute to its future expansion and development and also involve themselves in its day-to-day activities. It is important for our future national development and the achievement of common educational objectives, that all work in concert,

I have always recognized that Grand Bahama understands and appreciates the power of partnership and cooperative effort. The Government and the Port Authority have forged a very successful and rewarding union in matters of mutual concern over the past five and a half years. This high school stands as testament to the success of that relationship and is yet another example of what a community can accomplish when its members work together for the common good. It is my fervent hope that, like the fine gentleman for whom it is being named, this school will stand out as a bastion for the principles of hard work, honesty and integrity.

I call upon the students of this institution to emulate the decency, honesty, forthrightness, reliability, big heart and caring generosity of the gentleman for whom their school is named. It will bode them well.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Sir Jack Hayward, one of the principal owners of the Grand Bahama Port Authority and the Grand Bahama Development Company, is known far and wide. His name is synonymous with that of Freeport. Sir Jack has done much good for this community. Indeed, his response to the great demand for additional school spaces in this city is but one indication of the success of the city’s developers. Much of that success is due to Sir Jack and his partner at the Port Authority.

Sir Jack and the Port Authority have been generous with their earnings from Freeport – particularly as regards their contribution to education. They have awarded scholarships for university and other training to scores of Bahamian citizens, frequently without recognition and, sometimes, without even a simple thank you.

When my Government sought and received 20 acres of land upon which to locate this school – at no cost – and when it was agreed that the Port Authority would contribute nearly 50% of the cost for the construction of the school, there were no strings attached.

We have chosen to name this school as a tribute to and in honour of Sir Jack Hayward, on our own accord, and as an expression of our thanks, appreciation and gratitude to a great benefactor of Freeport.

Sir Jack is a decent, plain speaking, honourable man. In our judgment he is most deserving of this recognition, in the city which his father helped to create; and as a mark of respect on behalf of a grateful people and a thankful community, it now gives me great pleasure to declare that henceforth this school shall be known and called the Jack Hayward High School.