The Taiwan-based charitable organisation “TX Foundation” has completed projects worth US$110,000 at three schools in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).
The charity held ceremonies recently under the leadership of its president, Liza Lin., who was joined by its CEO Freda Miriklis and secretary Anna Hsieh.
The ceremonies marked the completion of a culinary vocational classroom and equipment at West St. George Secondary School; the donation of assistive devices for the visually impaired at Fair Hall Governmental School; and, a science laboratory and equipment inauguration ceremony at Troumaca Ontario Secondary School.
Minister of Education, Curtis King, along with Taiwan Ambassador to SVG, Fiona Fan co-hosted the ceremonies, which were attended by senior educational officers, the principals of the schools and hundreds of their teachers.
Minister of Social Development, Keisal Peters and Minister of Tourism, Carlos James, respectively attended the ceremony at West St. George and Troumaca Ontario secondary schools, respectively.
Fan expressed appreciation for the efforts of the TX Foundation in retrofitting classrooms and donating educational equipment.
She emphasised that this Taiwanese foundation helps to foster mutual understanding and interaction between the people of Taiwan and SVG.
The ambassador said that the bilateral friendship would endure, and she encouraged the students and faculty of the schools to actively apply for Taiwanese government scholarships to pursue degrees in Taiwan in the future.
King said he appreciated that TX Foundation improved practically the education in SVG in representation of SVG government.
He underscored the importance of technical and vocational educational training (TVET) and expressed hope that students acquire proficiency in a particular field.
He said he believed students from the three schools would keep TX Foundation in mind when using classrooms and equipment.
The TX Foundation has made donations to schools and hospitals in Asia, South America, the Caribbean, and Africa.
Last year, they headed to the Caribbean, announcing donations of educational equipment in countries such as Suriname, SVG, Jamaica, and the Bahamas.
The classroom retrofitting and equipment donations in SVG were part of this project.
I am curious about the process used to select the three schools that benefitted from this largesse. In particular, I would really like to know why there wasn’t a single school on any of the Grenadines included even though there is a notable dearth of vocational training available other than on the mainland.
Continue begging, you want to sacrifice the people for you own benefit. All those things that are given to you has a price, Ralph Gonsalves. We want to see progress in our country.
Not you going around the Caribbean telling people what to do in their own country while you continue to undermine your own country.