May 04 - GSD Says Government “Neglects Schools And Abandons Training”
The GSD has said that “not one brick has been laid” by the Government in relation to its “glossy manifesto commitment” to build five new schools and that there is no sign that the Government has in any way progressed plans to put education at the top of the political agenda.
A statement from the Opposition continued: “On training the position is even worse and the Future Job Strategy fails to deliver on every level and costs the community over £10Million a year.
“The answers to questions in Parliament on both education and training have been lazy, evasive and demonstrate a real lack of commitment and vision on education and training of our young people moving forward.”
Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships, Skills and Young People, Elliott Phillips, said:
"The Government is clearly putting the brakes on education and other important areas of domestic policy. Whilst challenges that face us are indeed significant, we cannot sit back and ignore the educational and training needs of our young people.
“Brexit must be seen as an opportunity to showcase Gibraltar by focusing our efforts on building a well educated and skilled workforce for the future. We must develop better opportunities for our young people so that they are encouraged and inspired in skilled trades and the new technologies. By placing our young people in dead end jobs we are depriving them of opportunity, worse still we are condemning them to a life of dissatisfaction and little hope.
“The failure to set out how the Government intends to build five new schools in 2 1/2 years is nothing short of astonishing. Where are the plans? What are the results of the consultation on the new schools and on co-education? The Government has abandoned and neglected ordinary working families and now they are doing the same with the education and training of our young people."
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