By Neto Baptiste
The lack of funding for sports and sporting activities in schools continues to stymie the development of student athletes and competitions hosted by the Ministry of Sports.
This is according to Principal of the Princess Margaret School (PMS), Dr Colin Greene, who labelled the absence of a fund for individual schools that engage in competition as problematic.
“There’s no direct funding given to any of the schools where sports is concerned. I guess the Ministry of Sports has a budget that they work with, and I think that budget probably goes into paying coaches and things like that. There is absolutely no direct funding given to our schools where sports [is] concerned, so whatever funding that takes place in the schools will be the funding that’s generated by the schools,” he said.
“I think that’s problematic and I’ve been saying that for years because there is a difference between trying to do it and trying to do it right. I think every school should have some seed funding for sports, actual monies going to the schools for them to manage and give account as to how they put it into their programme,” he added.
Greene, known for his belief that sports and education must go hand in hand, said the passion is a costly one that cannot be maintained on a regular school budget.
“We’re in a rebranding exercise so we are now known as the Princess Margaret Pride, so it means that all of our uniforms are being rebranded. We are trying to rebrand our track uniforms, which we’ve had for a while now, and that’s going to cost us within the range of about $12,000. We did the same for football with two or three sets coming to about $7,000. Also, if we attempt to provide some gear for students who might fall short — and that includes therapy for some of our students who are injured — so we try to foot that bill to assist the parents because most of us who are parents don’t have it, so we assist in those areas. If you look at it from that point of view then it’s an expensive venture,” he said.
The principal opined that many in authority may not see the benefits of dedicating funding to school sports, but reminds that the overall goal is developing rounded and disciplined members of society.
“What we’re focused on is the overall development of children, and sports just happens to be one of those areas we can work on. Whether there has to be a greater passion to wanting to see a particular product, that’s what I think is lacking, but for me it’s a passion. Anything I am into I want it done well and I would cry if the thing ends in confusion … and children see that and feed from that. The main stakeholders in this whole deal are the students and I could tell the policymakers the economic value that could come out of that, the long term benefits to children that could come out of that because I’ve seen it,” Dr Greene said.
PMS is preparing to defend both the boys and girls titles in the 2023 Schools Athletics Championships slated for March 10-12 at the YASCO Sports Complex.