This is the Art of Charm podcast to show where we bring you actionable tips and strategies on how to connect better socially, boost your emotional intelligence and navigate social behavior. I'm Johnny. And I'm AJ. So all month we have been talking negotiation and this week we end the whole month with extreme negotiation expert, Aaron Tunisian. Welcome to the show. Hey, thank you. Appreciate you having me on. How did you end up becoming a negotiation expert? Well, so I retired from the Army in June after 21 years. I have multiple deployments to Afghanistan since 2003. I did a little work in Africa in 2015 and in 2006 to 2008 had the opportunity to go to the Tuck Business School, get an MBA and while I was there I took a negotiation course from Jeff Weiss and Jeff Weiss was one of Roger Fisher's former students, Roger Fisher, the author of Getting T.S. Jeff currently serves with Partners Healthcare in Boston and so Jeff was an adjunct instructor at both Tuck and West Point and he taught a course on negotiation that was based on a lot of the work coming out of Harvard from the late 70s on when Fisher started his work there and so I got to take Jeff's course, learn the seven element model that comes out of Getting T.S. and some of the work that Vantage Partners has done over the years and then teach with him and then work in a variety of ways. So we launched the negotiation project at West Point in 2009 as an outreach to the military community and just getting to practice then I deployed later putting in the practice, getting to teach at West Point Air Force Academy. It's just been, yeah, that's how I've learned, saying I'm a negotiation expert is probably being generous but I've been married for 16 years and I have six kids so that's probably where I put most things in the practice. I could believe it. And what was the point in your life that you fell in love with negotiating? So probably to answer that question, let me tell just a quick story. So my first deployment to Afghanistan was in 2003-2004 and we were doing combat operations in the eastern part of Afghanistan and one of the responsibilities I had was dealing with a number of claims that local civilians had made against United States military for property damage and other things. So we had one gentleman whose claim had been kicked around for about two years when we arrived. He was a gas station owner in Afghanistan so businessman, influential in the community. He had a claim. My skill in negotiation was incredibly low so I met with him one time, asked him what he wanted, made him a ridiculously low offer, told him he could take it or leave it. And he was visibly upset, showed up at the Ford operating base a couple days later to get paid because he realized he just wasn't going to get anything as we were going on long enough. I was too busy to go meet with him so I sent out one of my junior soldiers to go pay him and we had no interaction with him any further. And there was a lot of failure in that, failure to recognize his importance in the community who he could connect us with, information he might have shared. There was some results we continued to get harassed by mortar fire from the direction of his gas station. We had a convoy that actually got attacked about a half mile from his gas station and while he wasn't involved he certainly wasn't sharing information with his sister people. And so that relationship we passed on to the following unit. So when you ask when did I fall in love, well it was when I realized what a failure that negotiation was. And that wasn't until I was in Jeff's course at Tuck in 2007 and one of the requirements was the journal about negotiations that I realized that although I got a round of applause at the battle update brief because I made that claim get go away, I had really failed because of my limited understanding of it. So at that point I said I want to learn, I want to take myself on, get better, share my failures and lessons with others. Wow, that is some heavy repercussions for some bad negotiation and it just goes to show what we've been talking about all month where if you're going, if you're looking at this thing short-sighted to get the best deal, relationships are going to be strained and certainly in this situation people's lives are at stake. Yeah, that's so true. I think one of the tensions that many people feel is how do I get a substantively good outcome for myself, for my company, for my organization and at the same time build a relationship and most people see that as a false choice where I have to sacrifice one for the other. So if I'm going to do things that are really good for the relationship, I'm not going to get as good a value in the substantive part, the terms, the price, and the agreement or I can really push hard on that and not get in the relationship will have to suffer. And what we like to say is we're trying to achieve an outcome that does both. We're maximizing all at the same time doing things that are good for the relationship. And especially when it comes to negotiating in life, we are always building or breaking relationships and we've had discussions about this all month, whether it's even negotiating on a car, you're going to need a second and third and fourth car, wouldn't it be better to have a great relationship with the dealer when you walk in, you get your oil change first, they think really highly of you. We often don't think about that. We think about the end now and how I can get there as fast as possible. What are some other common mistakes that you see people make when it comes to negotiating? AJ, that's really true. I think that there are few terms or words out there that are more loaded than negotiation. And again, I've taught leadership at two different academies, but negotiation is such a loaded term. People have some strong, strong mental models about what negotiation is. I often joke that I think it's because we all had the first negotiation in life and when we didn't get fed, we just cried louder. And the truth is, is that some people never learned to negotiate differently from that. And so they think that that's what it is. You come in, you make a strong demand, you complain and you eventually get what you want. So I see a lot of common mistakes that people make. We're not aware of the assumptions that we're making when we walk into a negotiation about ourselves, about the other person, about the negotiation itself. We assume that it's going to be a haggle. We assume that it's transactional to your point. We don't do a very good job. We inadequately define success. We don't manage, as I mentioned before, the tension between relationship and substance. We don't manage emotions in negotiation. No one has ever said, you know what this negotiation needs? It needs more emotion. But emotion is there. Emotion is there. It's there for both parties. When there's multiple parties, how do you manage it? We don't negotiate the process very well and really own our role in the process. There's actually some nice research that shows when I lead in a negotiation, I can, I have a good chance of getting another party to follow me. We don't do a very good job of understanding the importance of aligning internal stakeholders as well as the external party we're negotiating with. So we forget about internal alignment. So we end up reaching agreements externally, but hard to defend internally. And then the last one I'll share, which is my favorite, which is we negotiate too often to reach agreement. And that's a big mistake. You should negotiate to reach a good choice for yourself between what you can do with that party and what you can do with another party. So you negotiate to create choices. You don't negotiate to reach an agreement. That leads you down a slippery slope. And let's unpack that a little more, because I think for the audience listening, we all kind of think negotiation is about the agreement at the end. So what is the difference there? So if my view of negotiation is one in which the pie is fixed and my sole job is to capture as much of it as is possible, that's going to lead me into behaviors around making strong demands, hiding some information, particularly from even some behavioral things about what I share, don't share, even maybe lie. But if I believe that the purpose of negotiation is to try to create value for both parties and solutions where both parties can go defend that agreement to critics and constituents and colleagues that we all have, well, then my approach to negotiation is going to be one in which I'm going to negotiate around what are our choices. And so I believe you negotiate to build a better working relationship, to better understand the other party through good two-way communication, good inquiry and acknowledgement, to understand motivations that are underlying the positions people put out there. So what are people's underlying motivations, fears, concerns they're trying to solve for? I believe the effective negotiator is one who gets creative with problem solving and find solutions that aren't obvious, uses standards of legitimacy to defend it and then be able to create a choice between is what we're going to commit to that should be actionable and reasonable with follow-through that we both can do better than what we can do if we were to walk away and go execute our alternatives. And at the end of all that process, if we say we're better off walking away, boy, we can do so with some respect with each other, knowing that the next time we come back to each other, we're going to have a process that's going to be effective. Yeah, we talked about that last week, actually, how even when you want that big agreement, sometimes having just an incremental step towards it, getting your foot in the door and creating goodwill with the other party can lead to a bigger contract and a bigger agreement in the future. But if we're looking at it short-sighted and we're looking at one and only one outcome and that's make or break, it creates a lot of tension, it creates a lot of pressure on both sides. And of course, if it doesn't happen, then there's a good chance that they're not going to want to negotiate with you again. That's right. Yeah, agreed. And obviously, that was a big mistake you made in your first negotiation, learning from that and understanding that, hey, getting the best deal in the short term may not often be exactly what my company needs or what I need. How can negotiation developed in the military, especially in terms of conflict, be applied to us civilians who aren't in those life-or-death situations? So, you know, there's always been some sharing of best practices between the business community and the military. And that's been happening for quite a while with leadership, management, organizational behavior type, type lessons, negotiation, I don't believe is any different. In fact, I think some of the things, some of the characteristics that make for an effective military officer are the same things we look for in successful business folks, particularly like entrepreneurs. Right? So, you know, the ability to be a critical thinker, to be passionate about what you do, a good work ethic and drive, creative problem solver and so on, right? And those things are what I also think those things are what makes for a good negotiator. So that's not any different. You know, it's interesting. Roger Fisher, who wrote Getting T.S., served in World War Two. And a big reason for his motivation to find other ways to resolve conflict was because of his experiences in service in World War Two. So there's a historical connection between this field of conflict resolution and in the military and in applying the lessons learned. As I've done more core assignments, what's interesting is that while the context changes, right? So who you're negotiating with or the sorts of things you're negotiating over supplier and vendor pricing terms and so forth versus maybe sharing of information or partnership and joint operations like we would in the military, the challenges are the same, right? Parties have different goals. There's this challenge around alignment internally and externally. There's trust issues. Does that exist? Will implementation happen? So those challenges are universal. It doesn't matter. So the context is different, but those challenges are there. So I think the connections between the two are in how we achieve better results. That's that's how that's the answer there. Having a lot of experience, obviously negotiating overseas, have you noticed that there are cultural differences that come into play with negotiation or is a lot of this stuff just standard and basic? So the the model I was sharing earlier, these seven elements of negotiation have a cross-cultural component to them, right? So relationship is important, how I build rapport, how I show respect, how I how I demonstrate myself as being trustworthy. That's universal. How I do that in Afghanistan versus how I demonstrate that in the United States. Well, that's that's goes back to the cultural understanding of how I might do that. Interests, what motivate people? Well, people are motivated regardless of where you find them. They're just going to be motivated by different things. So some some folks are more motivated culturally by long term perspectives versus short term survival. And so you just have to understand that as well. Sources of legitimacy, objective criteria. Well, we point to what is a market practice? That's a great one in the United States. If you're buying a car, you got Kelly Blue Book. There's a great objective to stand or to point to. If you negotiate in Afghanistan, what's the rule law? What's the Constitution of their country say? What's what's what's tradition? What's religion indicate? Those are all different sources. So that's how I look at kind of applying the seven element model in a cross cultural context. I love that. You talk about an extremist negotiation and the five strategies involved with it. Can you break those down for us? Yeah, absolutely. So we wrote in 2010 based off my that was my second deployment, doing some research over there, things that we saw officers doing. And we wrote an article that was published in in Harvard Business Review in in November of 2010 called Extreme Negotiations and probably the most critical piece that comes out of that entire article was that in those contexts, when we are most tempted and even have the best excuses to revert to a natural approach of negotiation, that's when we have the greatest need to take a step back, consider what our choices are, shape the process and act purposefully, which I really I like that word. I'm not even sure it's a word, but the act, you know, act with purpose. And so the five strategies that we share in there are, first of all, you know, get the big picture. Don't assume you have all the facts. Be open minded, be curious, be humble, be willing to learn from the other party. Piece of advice, number two, uncover and collaborate. So dig into interest instead of asking, what do you want? Ask why? Why do you want something? How does that help you? Dig into what the underlying motivation is, share your own concerns. And then really try to find creative possibilities and what we might do together. I love that. The third. Because the the what do you want seems to be the obvious question that everyone rolls in a negotiation with, but asking the why gives you more to work with. So again, we're thinking about how do we grow this pie so that we can find the win-win. We've been talking about this all month. Well, understanding their why is going to help you a lot more than understanding what they want, because in the why, you're going to find there might be some other factors that they hadn't even thought of that could sweeten the deal, that could help the negotiation move forward. So I love that mindset. Well, with only one point of view, you're getting that low resolution view of the problem. So by putting more eyeballs on it with the why, we can get a better picture. I mean, it's certainly going to help us figure out why does it work for everybody? Exactly. I'm thinking about times in my life where I've been in a negotiation and if someone had asked me why, I would have had to think about it and I would have offered more opportunities and options and put them on the table. That's right. Yeah, Johnny, going to your point, when you understand the why, it helps you solve for the right problem. And too often we get what we want and not what we really needed. And so that's why we sometimes make agreements that are really poor agreements because we were solving for the wrong problem because we didn't understand the why. Wow. There's a great story. And if we're just kind of off off the questions for a moment, great story and getting to us. It's a simple little illustration and it's about these two girls arguing over an orange in the kitchen and their father comes in and says, you know, stop the scrubs, the orange, slices it in half and then each half the orange. And it's kind of the wisdom of Solomon, right? Assuming that they each they each wanted the orange for the same reason. The father then watches the two girls, one of them peels the orange very carefully, throws away the peel, eats the fruit.  The other girl peels the fruit very carefully, throws away the fruit and then carefully grates the zest, zest the orange to make, you know, chocolate orange brownies for school. But she's upset because she can only bake half a recipe and she had made a promise that she was going to bring in a whole batch of brownies. And so now she's upset because neither one of them got their interests satisfied, the why. If you understand the why, they can get creative, right? Maybe one of them buys the orange from the other. Maybe there's the obvious solution is, you know, one takes the peel and the other takes the fruit. I mean, there's just so many more possibilities if you understand underlying motivations. And when we're trying to become good negotiators, we need more information and sticking to what and trying to get to very basic information is not going to help us see from different angles and create opportunity that we may not have even come to the negotiating table. Thinking was there. So I love that question. Why and we can go on in the five strategies. Sure. So strategy number three is eliciting genuine buy-in from the other party. So avoiding making threats or arbitrary demands, but bringing to the table these objective criteria that either one of us can go back and defend what we might do to critics, constituents, colleagues that we're both going to have. We often say it's the other person's problem to defend a solution to those people. That's my that's my problem. That's a shared problem. The their ability to go back and say this agreement is fair. We should do it. That is a that's a shared problem. And that's going back to understanding what my assumptions are in negotiation. So master negotiators understand that whatever the deal is, the other party is going to have to sell it to their team, is going to have to leave the table thinking it was a good deal.  And there's going to be regret. And we talked about this on episode two, our toolbox of adding a threat, adding an exploding offer, putting a timetable on things. We hear this all the time, like that's what you need to do. It's a power move, but it actually works the opposite way. It creates this tension that the other person now doesn't like and oftentimes will blow up the deal. That's right. Right. And and we so the we shouldn't be surprised that when we do that, that these agreements don't last, right, that they don't stand the test of time. And yet somehow we were still shocked that because we didn't equip them to defend a solution that all of a sudden, you know, the agreement's falling through. Well, another thing to go along with that is when you put that person in that position, well, you know, I don't want to work with this person moving forward. If this is how we're going to play this game, right? And because every time we come to this point, we have to play this this the charade again of exploding offers and demanding letters. And it's right. Yeah. And that that really gets to the last kind of the last two from the five, which is we say, build trust first, focus on things that are good for the relationship. So be trustworthy, demonstrate respect, be honest. Those are things that are going to build the sort of relationship that that is going to allow you to create more value, to understand and share what motivations are. And then the other piece is focus on the last piece of advice is focus on process, really own and consider my actions, the impact of my actions on the other person. And and then, you know, own what's happening and be able to say, this is leading us down a path that is not going to be most value maximizing for us. Is there something else we could do and offer a different process? I love all these. And this this sets things up so nicely, certainly to build a relationship to everyone find a win-win. However, in and when it comes to some of the certainly some of the extreme negotiations that you had to be in, when it's a little bit more adversarial and they're in the other party is looking to you, looking at you as if you are the enemy. How what tactics or or things do you have in place in order to calm them down, to open up, to be able to see that that this doesn't have to be that way. And they're making this into something that it really isn't. Yeah, it's probably safe to assume that the other party is going to behave that way. Right. It's probably a little Polly Anish to assume that we're just naturally both going to approach it in a collaborative way. So I do like to say, if I lead a negotiation with a collaborative process, one in which I'm trying to do things that are good for relationship, I'm trying to understand their perspectives through good communication. I'm trying to dig into interest and so forth. Won't go through it all again. I have a very good chance of getting to the follow up. But what do you do when they don't, right? What do you do when they're incredibly hard bargaining at the table? The first thing I would do, and I borrowed this from Bill Urie, who's another one of the co-authors on getting to yes, he wrote a great book called Getting Past No. The solution is never going to be act as badly as I think they're acting. That's probably not going to help me achieve my aims at this moment. So that's the first piece is don't, don't react. Step to the balcony, pause, breathe, take a moment. And there's some good, again, science there around when I've been emotionally triggered by someone who is using some difficult or even dirty tactics. The amygdala hijack that is occurring is going to pull blood from my prefrontal cortex where I need that work. And so I can actually problem solve. I can't do that right away. So the ability to step to the balcony, don't react, breathe, give myself a moment is actually really good initial advice. From there, consider their perspectives. What is it that they are hearing and why is this resistance? Why is this no making sense for them? Why do they feel emotionally charged? Can you name that emotion and acknowledge it that they have? And again, I think going back, Johnny, to the point you were making earlier, if the process is lousy, that we're following and we're falling into a trap of just haggling back and forth, which you can't do on complex, multi-issue type negotiations. Well, then let's let's pause and name the process that we're using and suggest a different, suggest a different approach. I mean, we're talking about negotiating with literal enemies. Yeah. And of course, they have to save face. They're going to come in very skeptical.  You're representing the United States, who has won wars and negotiated very ferociously. So I love the fact that empathy is still at play. Emotional intelligence is still at play. And calling out the emotions can alleviate that tension. Obviously, they're going to be showing outward emotions. You might be showing outward emotions. And just calling it out alleviates the tension that both parties are feeling can actually help smooth things out a bit. But of course, it's going to be contentious. We're talking about negotiating with our mortal enemies who have been at war with us at times. So if we are coming at a negotiation and we know that this person is going to be hyper reactive, we know that this person is going to be playing dirty chess and doing all these tricks to trigger us and get us out of our flow. What are some ways that we can prepare before the negotiation to go in and be calm and collected and be willing if the negotiation isn't going right to just take a step away? Sure. So so obviously getting very well prepared is the first piece and being well prepared on what I keep referring to is the seven elements of negotiation are critical. And in part of that, I'm going to spend some time preparing, not only thinking about my own interests and concerns, but what the other party's interests and concerns might be. That's going to go a long ways in changing the game in that negotiation. Right. I'm going to think about things I can do that are going to better the relationship. I'm going to spend time inquiring and be willing to share some transparency around around the information I share with the other person as well. So that all comes up in being really, really well prepared. And again, expecting that some of these dirty tactics will be used against us. Role playing is a great tool to use if I to get prepared. And in fact, reverse role play is a really helpful one.  It's a pretty powerful way to prepare for difficult negotiations are coming up. Yeah, it forces you to really use that empathy lens and think about, OK, if I'm going to negotiate with this person, now I have to play this person. I really got to think about their perspective in this negotiation. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, there's a one of my later negotiations that I thought went a lot better, actually involved. You know, some of these things we're talking about. So in 2011, 2012, I was working for General McMaster, who was who was running the countercorruption task force. So recently, our national security advisor, couple national security advisors ago, but he was running the countercorruption task force in Kabul. And so we were doing some work with different governmental leaders on taking action on corruption various states. And one of the negotiations we were trying to have was with a provincial governor. We affectionately refer to him as a warlord, but a financial governor who owned a couple key checkpoints, both at borders and airports. And we couldn't get we couldn't have gotten into the table for a couple years. We've been struggling. He was notorious for scheduling meetings with our senior leaders and then not holding them. And so what I did to try to get a meeting with him was I just spent a lot of time trying to understand his choice and why there had been so much resistance, use of these dirty tactics and through better understanding of his choice, both what he was concerned about, his interests and motivations, as well as what he could do by saying no. And by spending some time understanding his perspective, we actually were able to present to him a better solution that actually satisfied our interests equally well. He responded very quickly to this. I got a meeting set up. I was able to meet with with this this leader. And during the meeting, demonstrated empathy and just shared with him. I was very open. He shared with them the information that we had we've been working on to try to understand his choice. And from then on, it was completely different. He worked with us on a number of projects and set a great precedent for what we did with other provincial governors. He kept meetings with our senior leaders to the point of I had a senior leader who couldn't land at where the governor's palace was. So we had the governor had to drive two hours out of his way to meet where my general landed so that he could keep the meeting. And if that isn't enough in on Christmas Eve 2012, he sent me a Christmas card. Wow. And one of the things that stuck out to me is trying for you to be trying to find out what is motivating the behaviors. And we tend to it's we we can only view things to our own senses. And it's so we tend to think that everyone else has the same motivations. And when, in fact, they could be so drastically different that on face value, your scratch in your head, you're thinking, what the hell's wrong with this guy? Well, what's wrong with him is he is completely motivated by something completely different than you are. And I don't know if you are if you listen to many podcasts, but there is a podcast host named Dan Carlin of a show called Hardcore History. And and one of the things that Dan likes to do, he's looking at certain events in history. And when if they don't make sense, he always has the thought experiment of sticking in a different motivation and see if things start to make sense. And one of the thought experiments is like he's like, never, you know, not count addiction or or like if you if you look at a certain amount of behaviors and you put in, well, maybe this guy is a drunkard and they're like all of a sudden everything starts to fit. You're like, it makes sense. You're like, oh, well, completely because not only we're dealing with motivations, we're dealing with with personalities and many other things that come into play to motivations. Yeah, that's right.  Oh, it's just because they don't see see the world the way I do and they're motivated and the unfortunate things that many folks prepare for negotiation in the ways that would be very persuasive to themselves, not in not in thinking about is this going to be persuasive to the other person. Right. And making those assumptions hamstring you when it actually comes time to negotiate because you're working with fewer tools. That's right. Yeah. Now, obviously taking all of this experience in the battlefield and now teaching students for those of us who are trying to sharpen our negotiation skills, knowing that it's happening all the time, whether it's negotiating salary or buying a car or even your rent. How can we practice these skills and raise our awareness and build that empathy and emotional intelligence we need for those really tough negotiations? Because I feel like a lot of us are in a situation where we don't think about negotiation, then our car breaks down and we need a car and then we go to Google and we're like, OK, how do I buy a car? But as you've said, it's experience, too. You've gone through the experience of winning some negotiations, losing negotiations, as well as the schooling to get to this point. How can we develop those skills? So one is just prepare, you know, get well prepared for every negotiation. Force yourself to do that. I mentioned the ability to role play and practice in preparation. Review your negotiations with with someone else. Keep a journal, be aware, right? Big part of this is becoming aware of what am I doing in a negotiation that's leading to certain results? Be really intentional how you think about success, both long term and short term. But the biggest one, I think, AJ, is actually practice these things, be disciplined. And that's really hard. So if I can share one last quick story, one of our former students in terms of being disciplined. He was in Iraq and he was getting up with a village elder to discuss some ongoing projects that they had. And he really needed to see information from this elder, as well as his support for these projects. And as he's heading to the village, the word comes across the radio that his best friend has just been killed in an IED attack. He then the next message comes across, which is, and oh, by the way, the person you're going to meet with, we don't believe was involved. But we do believe he had knowledge of it. And at that moment, you can imagine the emotional rush of things that we're going through this great young leader's mind. And he told us when he shared the story with us at West Point a couple of years later, he said he wanted to react. He wanted to go in there. He really didn't want to have to keep the meeting at all. But he said he wanted to go in there and really just kind of give the guy a piece of his mind and make some make some threats and demands. But he knew that doing that, that behavior was not going to help him get the results he needed to be successful on something much bigger. And so he took the step back, breathed, came up with a strategy, went in and negotiated from a very disciplined approach and was able to get support for these projects, get some more information he needed, and they were able to achieve the greater purpose. I can't imagine a tougher context with with which to negotiate, but it's the power of discipline. Yeah, that is an extreme negotiation. And thank you so much for your service. Obviously, having been through the battlefield and now teaching you skills and allowing us civilians to get that military discipline, as well as the strategies that have worked so well for us as a nation. It's an amazing experience. Thank you for joining the show for our listeners. I would love to learn more about you and more about these trainings. Where could we send them? Sure. First place, go read some things. Read Getting to Yes. Read Harvard, the Harvard Guide to Negotiations by Jeff Weiss. You look at our HBRPs. I would encourage you to visit Vantage Partners website, www.VantagePartners.com. You can look up the West Point Negotiation Project, the work it's doing in the military, and feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn. I always love talking to fellow journeyers who are trying to get better at the negotiation, so I'm happy to do that, too. Yeah, well, link all that up in the show notes. You guys can check it out if you're listening, theartofsharm.com. We put them all there as well. Thank you for joining us. It was a pleasure. Love the stories and again, appreciate your service. Thanks. Thank you both.


Mr Speaker, I rise in support of the motion to borrow US 6 million from the African Export-Import Bank to finance the construction of social infrastructure and other facilities damaged or destroyed by tropical storm breath under an education rehabilitation climate facility. Mr Speaker, before I delve into my presentation on the motion, I crave your indulgence and that of members of the House to express, something I should have done earlier this morning, to express get well wishes to Denver Edgar, a former student of mine, a friend, a constituent of Grand Reveal, who was involved in a motor vehicular accident a few days ago. He sustained injury, Mr Speaker, he is currently hospitalised and we are hopeful that he will make a full recovery. And I must say, Mr Speaker, with the consent of his family, the hospital has been in a position to apprise me daily on his progress. And as I said, I'm extremely confident that Denver will pull through and he will lead a very normal life in Grand Reveal and by extension the Mabuya Valley, so I wish him well. Mr Speaker, this motion is yet another demonstration of our government's commitment to the education of the nation's children. For a very long time now, Mr Speaker, principals, teachers, students, parents and other stakeholders in the education system have been clamouring for better conditions as it relates to school infrastructure. And whereas governments have tried over the years through various programmes, particularly those funded by the CDB, namely BUP, BIP, more recently EQUIP, which is the Education Quality Improvement Project, Mr Speaker, as we speak, there is a proposal being put together by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Department of Finance to submit to the CDB for funding to help us improve our education system. Mr Speaker, the government of St. Lucia has secured six million U.S. which translates roughly into 16 million EC to support the Ministry of Education to support its infrastructure rehabilitation programme. Over the past years, much of the annual budget for infrastructure works was directed to minor infrastructure repairs posing health and safety issues, including plumbing minor electrical repairs, mould replacing, mould sorry Mr Speaker, replacing termite infested ceilings, cupboard, furniture etc. Our budgets have not been able to facilitate major infrastructure rehabilitation. And with the average amount over the years of five million EC dollars, Mr Speaker, given the number of schools we have in this country, it has proven over time to be insufficient to meet the demands as far as school rehabilitation is concerned. As an island frequently impacted by severe weather events, many of our schools continue to be impacted year after year. And in very recent times, Mr Speaker, through the passage of tropical storm breath, a number of schools were impacted and we had to find monies overnight to begin the rehabilitation of the damaged buildings to give our children a safe environment within which to engage in learning exercises. This has been exacerbated, Mr Speaker, by a number of other factors. We have sea blast and we have the recent onset of sagasum, see with the engineers and technical people are telling us that the presence of sagasum in the base, Mr Speaker, that too is having an adverse impact on school infrastructure, particularly the electricals. Many of the wooden structures, Mr Speaker, compounded by age and aforementioned factors, have been deemed irreparable and they need total reconstruction. Other peripheral school infrastructures such as walls and fences continue to be impacted and need attention, especially considering the growing concern of school safety and security. Mr Speaker, the Philip J.P. led administration for the member for Cass Street East, his administration has been listening, Mr Speaker, and has been exploring sources of revenue slash finance to support our schools. Thus the US 6 million or EC 16.3 credit from the Afri Eximbank will go a long way in undertaking some of the major infrastructure reconstruction needed at our schools. Mr Speaker, 16 schools have been detailed in the document that informed this particular loan agreement. Mr Speaker, the upgrades will be undertaken using modern building codes and will utilize climate resilient and energy efficient technology. Mr Speaker, we need a lot more than 16 million to get our schools to where we want them to be. But in the context of what I have said and the presentation made by the Prime Minister in his preamble, Mr Speaker, this amount will go a very, very long way in ameliorating the conditions at some of the schools that I will mention in a short while. We have more than 100 schools in this country. I have visited Mr Speaker, all but seven schools ever since I became the Minister of Education. And I can tell you every single one of the 100 plus schools, including early childhood centers, need some form of work, some form of repair. But Mr Speaker, we have decided in the context of what is available to look at the more critical ones. Mr Speaker, those where we cannot afford to continue for much longer before an intervention was made. And the schools that were selected, Mr Speaker, were not selected because of where in the country they happened to be. But the Plants and Equipment Unit within the Ministry of Education, they were very deliberate and very objective in singling out some of the schools that they believe have the worst conditions and are in need of most repair. Mr Speaker, let me just mention a few of those schools. And I start with the Entribus Secondary School. The Entribus Secondary School, Mr Speaker, was constructed in 1972, long before I was even born, Mr Speaker. And the Entribus Secondary School was one of several junior secondary schools constructed in Senuja at the time. And from 1972 to today, Mr Speaker, every one of the junior secondary schools as we knew them, Mekud, Denri junior secondary, Korin, because we view for junior secondary at one time, Entribus etc., every single one has been upgraded, Mr Speaker, to a full-fledged senior secondary school. And with that upgrade came significant investments in the infrastructure at those schools. And to date, Mr Speaker, the Entribus Secondary School is the only secondary school where you still have remnants of the physical infrastructure that was first laid in 1972. So, Mr Speaker, when I visit the Entribus Secondary School and I engage with Mr Afer Scott, the hard-working principal. And he continues, Mr Speaker, to ask for interventions from the Ministry of Education. Mr Speaker, I can understand precisely what his fares are and why we should have made an intervention at that particular school. Mr Speaker, we will, at the Entribus Secondary School, be knocking down an existing block which poses a threat to students as well as staff, given that the building Mr Speaker has outlived its usefulness, having been constructed in 1972 and still serves a school with a population of almost 500 children. Mr Speaker, we will construct a three-story structure. I was in five classrooms, administrative offices, cafeteria, F&N lab, electricity lab, staff room, art room, sick base, etc. And the Prime Minister made the point earlier, Mr Deputy Speaker, when he said that we can no longer in 2023 mix concrete, mix cement and just put down a structure. You must subscribe to international building codes. And whatever investment we make in the school plant, it must, Mr Speaker, align with the language of climate resilience. So Mr Speaker, I am extremely pleased to report here today to this honorable house that the Entribus Secondary School will be rehabilitated to the tune of more than five million dollars. And I will say again, Mr Speaker, that this election was influenced by the team at Plantern Equipment after having made the assessment of that particular school. Mr Speaker, the Grand Riviera Secondary School in the constituency of Denver North is also down for rehabilitation. And this is one of several schools where timber structures are being replaced with concrete structures, the Grand Riviera Secondary School. And that school, Mr Speaker, is one of the schools aimed at as part of our TV transformation. I would have pronounced in this house previously and elsewhere that four of our traditional secondary schools will be repurposed to be TV specific institutions. There is timber annex at the Grand Riviera Secondary School, which is still might infested and every year in addition to having to procure materials to undergo rehabilitation and things of that sort. So Mr Speaker, we have to be spending thousands of dollars in pest control to treat the two might infested parts of that particular structure. It is not climate resilient and we believe it has outlived its usefulness at the Grand Riviera Secondary School. And so that particular annex will be knocked down and a new block will be constructed. This school is also down as part of TV, as I said Mr Speaker, and it will lead our TV program in the area of sustainable agriculture and culinary acts. Mr Speaker, the OJ Combined School has also been identified as one of the schools in need of serious rehabilitation. Mr Speaker will be spending an amount to undertake general repairs. That school has been in existence for many many many years Mr Speaker and the structure based on what I have observed and what has been communicated to me by parents and the technical team from the Ministry of Education. The school needs rehabilitation. This is one of our better performing schools in the south of the country Mr Speaker. The school has strong leadership and it is a school of choice when you see students who reside in other parts of the south. The parents Mr Speaker expressing their desire to have them enrolled at the OJ Combined School. And so the OJ Combined School is down for major repairs in this amount. Mr Speaker, the OJ Combined School also in the southern half of our country is down for rehabilitation. With an enrollment of just over 250 students, this is one of the schools nationally, not just in the southern belt, nationally that punches way above its width. This school is a model of consistency Mr Speaker. The school is extremely well led by a seasoned veteran educator in the person of Mrs Mooney. And I visited the OJ Combined School Mr Speaker all by myself to see first hand the conditions about which they have been complaining. And I can tell you Mr Speaker, if the decision was mine alone to make, this would have been the first school down for rehabilitation. Today I am happy to report to the Honourable House that the PIRU Combined School is down for a new block where Mr Speaker will have additional classrooms and some of the amenities we believe will help enhance the learning environment for the students in that particular catchment area. The member of the OJ with whom I have had several bilaterals is not here today but I am sure Mr Speaker he too will welcome news that the PIRU Combined School is down for rehabilitation where an entire new block will be constructed to replace the termite infested structure that currently exists in the PIRU community. Mr Speaker, more schools to be looked at we want to look at the reunion school in the constituency of Shwezel. And Mr Speaker that sits well with a point that was made earlier today if not during the presentation of this motion by the Honourable Prime Minister when he said that we do not look at the constituencies where work has to be done. We will always employ a doctrine of meritocracy and if it is that the schools that need repair must all emanate from constituencies being represented by the opposition will have no difficulty putting money in there to ensure we give the children of those constituencies the best possible educational experience our country can afford. So the head block Mr Speaker which is out of commission at the reunion school will be looked at with major roof rehabilitation. We have to do a total overhaul in Mr Speaker of the electrical fixtures at that school not to mention the plumbing issues and the other general matters of upkeep at the reunion school. So the principal, the staff, the students and I am sure the parliamentary rep for Shwezel will all welcome news that from the AFRI exam quantum of 16 million easy dollars being borrowed by the government the students and people of reunion Shwezel will benefit like their counterparts in other parts of the country where that money will be impacting. Mr Speaker I move to the plain view combined as I indicated I will not be mentioned in every single school but I have pulled out somewhere I believe the situation is dire and the situation is in need of urgent attention. The plain view combined school in view fourth is also down for some work Mr Speaker. Two blocks to be replaced but we can only undertake one at the moment. This is a very big school in the context of the numbers we see at our primary schools with an enrollment of just over 470 students. This school has performed well historically and Mr Speaker it continues to be a school of choice for parents in the south. I was there very recently with personnel from the Caribbean from the FISIS that is the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center where we executed a project with them for rainwater harvesting to sensitize the students to sustainable ways of living etc. So when I saw for myself Mr Speaker it really reinforced in my mind some of the reports that I had received and some of the complaints that had been put forward by the parliamentary rep as it relates to the condition of the school. The plain view combined school in view fourth. They have an issue with dust Mr Speaker and as I said the dilapidated wooden structure etc. All of this will soon be a thing of the past when we inject well over a million dollars for the construction of a new block at the plain view combined school. Mr Speaker the view fourth comprehensive secondary school is a very special school on the national landscape. They are also down for major rehabilitation and it is important that we give the view fourth comprehensive secondary school all the support that we can. Not just in terms of physical infrastructure upgrade Mr Speaker but we have to support their programs. Very recently our cabinet approved a recommendation from the Ministry of Education to have a second vice principal at the view fourth comprehensive secondary school. Every secondary school in this country operates with a principal and a vice principal. But a case was made by the Ministry of Education to the cabinet to give the view fourth comprehensive a second vice principal to share the administrative workload. And that has become necessary Mr Speaker because this is the only secondary school in the country where in addition to the CXC CSEC program they have taken on the CXC KIP or whatever one time we referred to as the A level program. So Mr Speaker we are fully aware of the efforts of the principal Mrs. Peter and her staff at this default comprehensive. And as I said they are down for major repairs work to be done Mr Speaker in the science lab the roof the science block six classrooms have to be rehabilitated. We have to look at the water issue the electrical issues at the school and this is a place Mr Speaker a campus if you like. Where on a daily basis you have in excess of 1000 persons students faculty and salary coming through the gates of the view fourth comprehensive school so that it continues to be to be the flagship learning institution in the south. It is a big school and soon from today I should be in a position to speak to the operationalization of the second vice principal who will be providing support to the existing leadership at the school. Very recently Mr Speaker I notice the deputy speaker has a smooth Mr Speaker almost an expression of satisfaction of the pronouncements on default comprehensive he himself being a former student of that institution. We will not delve into his performances in and out of classroom but Mr Speaker I think he has acquitted himself well and is proving to be a worthy ambassador of such a great school. In very recent times Mr Speaker a few days ago we would have been privy to the CAPE results or the CSE level equivalent and you would have noticed that the view fourth comprehensive secondary school registered more than impressive performances not just when compared to the counterparts locally but regionally. Mr Speaker regionally in accounts the view fourth comprehensive secondary school came first. Regionally Mr Speaker in entrepreneurship you need to the view fourth comprehensive secondary school placed through. And I'm talking regionally Mr Speaker not just the view fourth comprehensive being paid against the entry secondary or the St. Joseph's convent but regionally. The rumour comprehensive school in Trinidad or Kingston high in Jamaica but across the length and breadth of this Caribbean where hundreds of thousands of young persons would have taken the same exams. The students of view fourth have demonstrated once again that they are up to the mark and they can hold their own against the very best in this region. In the area of green energy and English literature Mr Speaker the view fourth comprehensive was amongst the top ten regionally as was the case in tourism, green engineering and those other programme areas. So Mr Speaker they are down for rehabilitation to complement the work that is doing and a school like that will always get the full support of the minister and by extension the cabinet of ministers so that they can continue to as we say in the cabinet of ministers press ahead and give the students a very good experience. Mr Speaker the last of the many schools that are down for rehabilitation it will be released of me not to mention the second comprehensive secondary school Mr Speaker for major works. As I said I am only singling out a few schools I do not have the time to go through the entire list of the schools that will be impacted but I must mention the Sufre comprehensive secondary school. Led by Miss Comby a very young and enthusiastic principal of course and with the support and encouragement of a very passionate parliamentary representative the prime minister has seen the need Mr Speaker to make resources available to the ministry of education to help with the rehabilitation of the Sufre comprehensive secondary school. Mr Speaker the roof at the Sufre comprehensive school needs a lot of work. There are sections of the Sufre comprehensive school where we have no windows and I will take the opportunity Mr Speaker to say not just to the students of the Sufre comprehensive but the students our secondary school students in particular across the length and breadth of the country. Secondary school students are not toddlers. Secondary school students are not kindergarteners. Secondary school students are of an age Mr Speaker where they have understanding and where they must appreciate that they cannot vandalize the structure. I expect in the following term or year for the government to find resources to come and repair the damages. I have said to the principals I have said to the district education officers and on occasions would have had to speak with students I have said to them Mr Speaker that if they are found vandalizing school properties. Not only will they and their parents have to raise the money to replace the damage infrastructure but Mr Speaker they will be punished in ways that will cause them to respect and appreciate the efforts that the government is making. Mr Speaker this injection of 16 odd million is designed to help enhance the learning environment of students and schools across the length and breadth of the country. And to improve the quality and effectiveness of schools. But we know quality infrastructure is only one component of an effective school system or an effective education system. And with your indulgence Mr Speaker I will profit the opportunity to outline or remind this Honourable House of some of the interventions we are making in the breadth spectrum of education to give our children an experience that will prepare them for life not only in St Lucia but beyond the shores of our country. Infrastructure alone is not enough and as I said there is more to quality schools and quality education than the physical structures that house our teachers and our students. Mr Speaker some of the programs being rolled out and that have been complimented by this injection of money to rehabilitate the school plan include the one laptop per child program. We have reinstated the one laptop per child program Mr Speaker. And as we speak today every single child in the secondary school system of St Lucia. Whether he is at the Beaufort Comprehensive he is at the Patricia D James Secondary he is at the SDA Academy or he is at the Boca Secondary or the Clinton Mason Secondary or the Johnny Jordan Secondary. Every single child in our secondary school system today has a laptop computer that complements the government of St Lucia Labour Party. And Mr Speaker I remember when we came in and we found a program with e-books frapped with all kinds of issues. And Mr Speaker at first days lunch Mr Deputy Speaker of the e-content you will hear from the technical staff themselves. The previous government had contracted an Indian company to provide them with what was known at the time as e-books. And this is what happened with the e-books Mr Speaker. The professionals from beyond the shores of St Lucia came into this country sat with our teachers and our professionals, engaged them in conversation, took all the submissions of our teachers and they went and they packaged it and they presented it to our government at an astronomical amount. And Mr Speaker do you know that for every device and every child the government of St Lucia every year had to be paying license. And it means Mr Speaker that millions of dollars, millions being repatriated out of this country to a foreign company. Mr Speaker we did not waste time to hold that program. And we did not just take a position because politicians had spoken out against something which they believe was not in keeping with their own party philosophies. But we were instructed, we were encouraged and I have the submissions from all the senior technical people of the Ministry of Education in my inbox. But I will not throw my staff under the bus and tell you who said what. But the staff was adamant that this initiative with the e-books did not come from the Ministry of Education. But instead it was imposed on them notwithstanding the shortcomings of that program that they would have identified prior to its introduction. You have animations in the content of accents that are foreign to our children. And they can't understand all the content. I'm not the one saying it. This is the report that I got from the technical staff. But I can tell you since we shelved it Mr Speaker, not only have we saved millions of dollars that would have left this country in the form of license fees. But we have developed content and Mr Speaker I must place on the record my appreciation and my gratitude to the staff of Camdo for having embarked on a content development project. And on Thursday, all of the members have been invited to be with us for a demonstration. And I'm sure anybody in attendance Mr Speaker will be full of praise for the work that has been done by the curriculum. Mr Speaker, I happen to reach the waterfront on a particular morning roughly a month and a half, two months ago. And I noticed boxes and boxes of what appeared to be books were being placed right downstairs on the ground floor of the NIC building. And I asked one of the junior staff at the ministry, what do you have there? Where are you all going with this? Those are ebooks, not ebooks, but learn books that the previous administration had procured that are of no use. They cannot be repaired and that they will own their way to dig low to dump those devices. I immediately put a halt to that operation. And I said to them Mr Speaker, just to be cautious so that somebody wouldn't say that a little party government is vindictive and we record and we throw in devices that were procured by the previous administration. I ordered, I instructed. And it's not often that I flex ministerial muscle but on that day I instructed that devices were taken back upstairs on the food floor where they had been. Yes, they still did. I had the communications unit to take still shots and to take video clips Mr Speaker of all of what was a mark for disposal. I wanted to make sure that in keeping with the procurement rules and asset disposal rules of government that somebody had signed off to say. A competent authority that boos devices of no use to the children of this country. They are still there Mr Speaker, we have use for them. Not necessarily for use in the classroom but I'm sure those devices will be used to substantiate the claims. It is one thing for us to come into the honourable house as politicians, as parliamentarians and to have our exchanges. But there are certain things I defer to the staff or I concede to the staff to pronounce an answer especially when I know it is a highly contentious political issue. Mr Speaker, our students will have uploaded on their devices content developed by our own people. Content that is culturally relevant. Content developed by people who understand the accent and whose accents they understand. Content that where examples are used, those examples are within the experiential background of the children Mr Speaker. So that there will be no ambiguity when it comes to the learning exercise. And that is what we meant when we said we were going to reinstate the one laptop per child programme. And very significantly the savings that we've been able to make by developing our own content. Some of it is being channeled Mr Speaker or redirected to help bolster our higher education programme. Mr Speaker, our government continues to pay facilities fees for every single child in the primary and secondary public school system. And Mr Speaker, you should see the expression of relief from the parents when they come to the constituency office. And if it is that some persons in here are comfortable referring to parents who are having difficulty making ends meet as mendicants, that is them. I represent a role constituency Mr Speaker. I know what it is like for parents not being able to buy a pound of fish when they hear the sound of that horn as the van goes through the community. I know first then Mr Speaker what it is like when you are not able to buy a loaf of bread to ensure that tomorrow morning at five and six o'clock you can wake up and give your children breakfast Mr Speaker. So that when the government takes a decision to waive facilities fees for these children, Mr Speaker, I know what the dollar circulation can do particularly in the rural pockets. So those who want to criticise can criticise it. But I can tell you this particular intervention by our administration has found favour particularly those persons whose circumstances in life are not Mr Speaker as bright as they would want it to be. Ours is still the government that is paying CXC, CSEC, Mathematics and English fees for our students in the secondary school system. And the prime minister is on the record Mr Speaker saying that it is Mr Deputy Speaker that during this time of government he is hoping that he will be in a position where he will pay off mathematics and English and free other subjects for the children of our country. Mr Speaker we do so because we understand the plight of ordinary people. Mr Speaker we do so because we place a premium on education. Mr Speaker we do so because we are the genuine champions of poor people. We are not cosmetic as it relates to advancing the plight of poor people. And Mr Speaker again we are reducing that financial burden on the parents who otherwise cannot be for themselves. Mr Speaker there are scores hundreds of parents, thousands of parents in this country. When you sit and you engage them in conversation they will tell you about their own educational circumstances and how because their parents were poor notwithstanding they had the ability they could not have gone any further than just enrolling at school because it was mandatory. No premium, no value was placed on education at the level of the family and in some communities. And I have said here before that I remember as a child growing up attending the Larisos primary school in the Mabuya Valley. When officials from the Ministry of Education visited the Larisos school and the other schools that were in the Denrenoff area. There was this very unsavory label that was ascribed to the schools, schools within the banana belt. And once you heard that the school was from the banana belt you expected nothing good to come out of it in terms of academic performance. But today Mr Speaker we have children from the Denry basin who are in the top ten of the CPE which we knew as common engines. We have come a long way but education is a continuum it is a journey that never ends. And so at every step of that with the support of the Prime Minister Mr Speaker the Ministry of Education will continue to discharge its duties and responsibilities to the families and children of our country. Mr Speaker we understand that in order for students to thrive that the physical environment must be conducive and we have spoken about that here today. The Prime Minister in presenting the motion did so likewise my colleague from Kastry South East and I touched on it briefly. But for students to do well in an environment that is pristine and conducive you need teachers to be comfortable and teachers to be happy. Mr Speaker I have said to teachers before that we entered teaching at a time when it was a vocation and it is still a vocation. A vocation is something you undertake you join you become a part of where money is not the main consideration for becoming a part of it. But as a conviction and as a calling that you have that would influence you to be part of that movement and teaching Mr Speaker is a vocation. I talk for more than a decade at both the primary and secondary levels and I can tell you Mr Speaker a teacher's role is more than just imparting content and facilitating learning and lesson delivery in a classroom. Today's teacher in addition to being a traditional teacher you must be a counselor you must be a parent you must provide spiritual guidance and there's so much more you've been called up on to do. Particularly as the challenges in society evolve so too must the rule of the teachers. And what have we done Mr Speaker as a token of appreciation to the teachers of this country the prime minister without hesitation. He found the resources to increase what in the education we call the TMA the teaching materials allowance by $600. So that teachers teachers who received the TMA in the months of August and those who were temporarily in the month temporary Mr Speaker in the month of September also took whom $1400 TMA. I've said it before and I will quit here today Mr Speaker when teachers travel particularly to the United States of America on a vocation. Mr Speaker within the first two weeks of landing on the US mainland half of the suitcases Mr Speaker and perhaps maybe an entire suitcase would have been filled already with materials and aids to enhance the learning environment in the classrooms that they be returning to after the vocation period is over. And so Mr Speaker I must place on the record once again our governments gratitude to the teachers of this country and to fund the SLTU Mr Speaker for working with the government. We have not always been on the same page Mr Speaker but we understand that the SLTU is an indispensable ally in this quest to give our children the best possible educational experience our country can afford. There will be differences of opinion on certain matters but we have never as an administration seen the SLTU as an adversary but instead we have seen a very enthusiastic and at times passionate group of individuals giving expression to the plight of their membership and so our administration we stand ready to work with the SLTU to improve working conditions and to ensure that at every opportunity their input would continue to influence policy for our government. Mr Speaker we have a pre-K program Mr Deputy Speaker in our schools and pre-K basically speaks to students coming into the formal school system before the age of five. Mr Speaker as we know it historically a child enters the formal school system at five but we have excess space at a number of our primary schools because the population, the enrollment has dropped nationally significantly because the solutions Mr Speaker are not procreating at the rate that they were known to have in times gone. I know that it is not applicable to everybody in this chamber particularly those to my immediate right Mr Speaker but that not we have studied Mr Speaker the pre-K program is an important program for us in the Ministry of Education. So at schools where we have excess space we convert some of the classroom space into the little centers within the school environment to bring in the pre-K. They are not part of the main school program and they have the separate programs Mr Speaker but that is how we begin to introduce them into the broader spectrum of school life at an early age. So far Mr Speaker we have rolled out our pre-K program at six schools namely the Sufra infant school Mr Speaker I was able to see for myself the conditions are very very impressive and I am hoping that as we continue to provide support to the pre-K program in Sufra working closely with the OECS that on occasions when the Ministry of Education isn't able to pick up the slack we can rely on a very healthy and reliable Sufra foundation to help in that regard. Mr Speaker not too far from Sufra we go to the constituency of Shwazel. At Moghuj perhaps the best pre-K setup I have seen in the country although my staff and I we are always on a different wavelength for this concept. The setup at Moghuj Mr Speaker is also very very impressive and there is a very healthy pre-K program at the Moghuj school. Moghuj primary school also has a pre-K program. Moghuj is in the constituency of Castries East and it wouldn't surprise me if the inclusion of Moghuj on this program is news to the Prime Minister and if anybody might be inclined to believe that the Prime Minister's influence was what caused Moghuj to be on the list Mr Speaker to know. Again we employed the meritocracy, we did our research and we know that there are some communities where the early childhood services are not as robust as we want them to be so once there is space within a particular catchment area after primary school we will look to have the pre-K program pick up the slack that the normal early childhood services cannot deal with. Rackwamengo is also Mr Speaker part of our early childhood pre-K program as is January infant school and the rule bloat. So these are the six schools that are currently enjoying or benefiting from the pre-K program. It is very instructive to note that there is none from January north Mr Speaker because again we have employed a meritocracy that informed the selection of those schools. The program will be expanded and I'm hoping that the next time I speak on pre-K perhaps at budget I can speak to the inclusion of a lot more schools across the length and breadth of this country. Mr Speaker one of the flagship areas of programming for the Ministry of Education is our higher education mandate. We believe Mr Speaker that we can or it is realizable and attainable to have one university graduate per household in this country and we have spent no effort Mr Speaker to go out there in a very aggressive way to source the scholarship and the higher educational opportunities for young Saint Lucians. Mr Speaker very recently for the first time this administration we rolled out a program known as the UNIPASS and the UNIPASS is a program that was specifically designed for Saint Lucians who want to access university. The government Mr Speaker and I must thank the honourable prime minister who is the chief custodian of the public post for making half a million dollars available for the UNIPASS where average young Saint Lucians who have started programs but somewhere along the way they have found themselves in difficulties that they cannot get out of. The government is saying to them through the UNIPASS we have a facility where we can give a grant the maximum of which is $10,000 to help them complete programs. In some cases some of them just need the staff Mr Speaker they also qualify. We have entered into several programs with Monroe College as a country but I have studied here and the prime minister did say at the function that I attended with him that we have a responsibility to the University of the West Indies. We cannot continue to work with Monroe at the expense of the UWI. We will work with Monroe. We will explore every opportunity to work collaboratively with Monroe College but it should never be at the expense or to the detriment of the University of the West Indies. Mr Speaker I have no difficulty placing on the record that our government we have a responsibility to UWI University of the West Indies. Mr Speaker we have rolled out the first generation scholarship program first generation. You have to be the first from your family to enroll at university. Too many young Saint Lucians Mr Speaker have become victims of the society because of the socio-economic background. Too many young Saint Lucians demonstrated from kindergarten up to grade 6 that they were the best in the class. They demonstrated at the common entrance exam now the CPE that they were the best in the class. They transitioned to some of the best secondary schools from one to from five. They demonstrated that they were still the best but once they had exited the doors of that secondary school their parents had no land, there was no property to mortgage, there was nothing to help secure loans for higher education and some of them had to languish and they had to sit by and watch people whom they had dominated from kindergarten All the way to post secondary they had to sit by and watch people since excel because the socio-economic circumstances allowed them to secure monies at banks and rates that their parents could have afforded to become the professionals they wanted to be. Our government has taken a decisive step to correct that wrong. So today Mr Speaker, when you go to Monroe College, when we have 100 first generation students being financed by the government in collaboration with Monroe College I invite you to do your background check. What parts of the country are they from?  And today Mr Speaker, they can take their rightful places at university and dream and leave that dream of becoming the professionals that they want to be. Mr Speaker, in addition to the first generation scholarship program, we have another scholarship program with Monroe College which we found we inherited when we came in where Monroe College was providing 17 scholarships to young solutions, three full scholarships and 14 partial scholarships. Mr Speaker, because we have been able to allow so many programs and we've had that conversation with the nation as it relates to higher education the young people of St Lucia are coming forward in droves Mr Speaker to want to access. For the 17 scholarships that are on offer to begin in the month of January for the 17 Mr Speaker, to date we have received in excess of 144 applications. Mr Speaker, and the hardest part of this for me, 15 minutes left. Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker. And Mr Speaker, what is most disconcerting about all of this is when you have 130 applicants and I'm certain that out of the 140 applicants a good 115 or more they qualify and they meet the entry requirements but Mr Speaker, the Minister of Finance, I know given the passion that he has for education I'm sure in the ensuing budget will again let his creativity come to the fore and devise a mechanism that will cause us to increase the number of solutions whom we are facilitating. Mr Speaker, we have had increased numbers going to Taiwan. We have seen an increase in the number of students going to Hungary on scholarship and Mr Speaker, very recently a cohort left for Morocco. I must place on the parliamentary record our government's appreciation for a gentleman who is of Grenadian parentage but resides in the U.S. in the position of Randy Glyn for the fantastic work he has been doing with Sir Arthur Lewis Community College and the government of St Lucia and some other governments within the OECS in finding the scholarships and finding the schools in North America with which our governments and our flagship tertiary institutions can collaborate to provide opportunities for our young people. Mr Speaker, we are not only catering for the marginalized and gross persons who socioeconomic circumstances are not favorable. We are also saying to those in society who are capable of buttering their own brain that they too will not be left out. Our government, this Prime Minister, Minister of Finance has made an arrangement with the St Lucia Development Bank to secure, Mr Speaker, 10 million EC dollars as a credit facility for St Lucia who want to pay their way to university. So Mr Speaker, this is just a snippet of what is happening in education. We will continue to hold those programs. I don't want to make pronouncements in terms of what is coming in the ensuing year. I will leave that for the Prime Minister's appropriation bill address, Mr Speaker and some of the plans that will be unveiled in the near. But today Mr Speaker, I am extremely delighted and extremely pleased to be the minister responsible for education at a time when the government is saying that we have to continue investing in education. Mr Speaker, we did not just embrace a mantra on the campaign trail because we believe it would have resonated with people but we have demonstrated in every government department, in every agency and statutory entity that we believe putting people first is something practical. Today we are putting the children of St Lucia first. Today we are putting the teachers of St Lucia first. Today we are putting the principles of this country first and today Mr Speaker, with a loan of 16 million easy to rehabilitate schools we are putting the people of St Lucia first. Mr Speaker, it will be remiss of me to take my seat and not express my gratitude as minister and that of the entire government to the many persons who work in the education sector to help rule out the programs. I want to thank the Parliamentary Secretary for working with me the Honourable Senator Dr Pauline Antoine Prosper. I want to thank the Permanent Secretary Miss Michelle Charles, the Deputy Permanent Secretary Mr Kendall Kodra, the newly appointed Chief Education Officer Miss Beverly Diodoni and all the other heads of departments Mr Speaker in the ministry. I want to thank the National Principles Association Mr Speaker for their support and again I will say we have not always been on the same page as it relates to the issues but one thing I can assure you is that when we have our exchanges the enthusiasm and the passion that informs the discussion is one that is born out of concern for the children of St Lucia. I believe Mr Speaker that we still as a country we continue to be a rich repository of academic talent that has been proven for decades not just locally and regionally but St Lucia has put some of the best men and women and the best international professionals out there for the benefit of mankind. I know we can continue Mr Speaker and we have to invest in our children to ensure and as I said we do not prepare them for life only in St Lucia but so that they can become global citizens taking the rightful places in whatever part of the globe they decide to reside. Mr Speaker we must say we do not have a new Minister of Social Justice who will serve him in the finance which will give him the money we have couldn't make that money this is for pr America 16 million dollars which will make it a main cause of education so that he can make that money so that he can teach you so that he can do things so that you know that will teach you so that he can teach you so that he can help support so that he can do things so that he can help so that he can help We will ensure quality workmanship in the construction period. It will not be a case where we will just hand contracts to people. Contractors will not be selected based on political affiliation. But instead, contractors will be people who have proven over time that they have the requisite skills and experience to undertake the projects in the various magnitudes that will inform how we move forward. So Mr. Speaker, once again I want to thank the Honorable Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance for making the resources available. And I can give him the most solemn of assurances that under my stewardship and leadership, the Ministry of Education will endeavor to make the best use of that money thereby enhancing the learning environment for children whose dreams and aspirations we are committed to facilitating whilst we hold the reins of government. Thank you Mr. Speaker.


February, years ago, was designated as Heart Health Month because as Americans, and you know, we contribute worldwide, but as Americans, it's the number one killer, the number one disease that we have in the United States that can be in a lot of ways avoided. I take an aspirin every day, and I took it, you know, I'm 50 years old, you know, or 35, and my doctor recommended, not only just because of my age, and I don't have a history of heart disease, but what the, some of the science behind it is that the elements of an aspirin help thin the blood a little bit, it helps, there's some nutrients that help get rid of the bad things in the blood that cause heart disease. You know, I'd have to get one of the cardiologists, or Dr. Norwood over here, or Dr. Eisenberg to tell you a little bit behind the science of it, but it's proven that an aspirin, you know, I think that when somebody comes into the ER and says they have chest pain, one of the first things that they give them is aspirin, they ask them, are you allergic to aspirin? No, they're not allergic to aspirin, they'll give them aspirin to help that blood to thin out, to hopefully open up any blockage that's in the passageway, just causing the heart attack or maybe the first signs of stroke. Live with honor, fight with courage, and always be committed to excellence.


I'm here this evening in Stratheewan where I've just witnessed the Stratheewan Afters Creek Bushfire Education Centre. The kids in the local area have done a fantastic job and I've got Liesl here with me who is the head charang, the person that's put it all together for a very long period of time. Can you tell us what this is all about and why it's so important to the local community? After Black Saturday we realised how important it was to have a relationship with our local primary school. It's become a little bit of a cultural thing at the school and a bit of a ride of passage and yeah, kids love it, I love it. Hi, I'm Eli, this is Sarah and this is Arizona. We are presenting fire plans tonight. My favourite personally thing that we learnt here was our recon team work because we had to work together to get it all right and perfect it. The most important thing when it comes to fire safety is definitely having a plan, they're all just going in there blind and doing whatever. I've just come across Oscar and Zoe, another two fabulous young people that are here tonight educating the Stratheewan community about what it means to be bushfire. So tell me gang, what table were you on and what were you teaching their local community this evening? I was part of the AFDL board explaining how it works, why we changed it. So tell me a little bit about the ratings of the board and why it's so important, Zoe? It's important so that communities can take action to protect themselves and others from the threat of a bushfire. When you see Catastrophic, you know to run, get out of town. The message that the kids told us before we all had supper this evening was kids can do anything an adult can and I'm pretty sure gang, you've managed to convince us of that. Congratulations, well done and keep up the great job.


So, we've been talking about the escalation between the United States and Iran over the course of the last couple of weeks, and I told you about a plan that was devised by John Bolton, who is Donald Trump's National Security Advisor, to send 120,000 troops to the Middle East to essentially intimidate Iran. Now, at the time I told you about that plan, it was unclear about whether or not Donald Trump even knew about this plan, and whether or not John Bolton was doing all of this and escalating and saber-rattling under Donald Trump's nose unbeknownst to him. But as of now, Donald Trump is aware of the plan. I don't know if he knew about it at the time when Bolton was pushing it, but nonetheless, he knows now, and he is denying that they were even considering this. But it's funny, because as he denies that they wanted to escalate with Iran, he still manages to threaten them. We have not planned for that. Hopefully, we're not going to have to plan for that, and if we did that, we'd send a hell of a lot more troops than that. So every single time he denounces the prospect of war with Iran, he manages to simultaneously raise the stakes. It's like he is incapable and doesn't know how to not be belligerent. If you don't want war with Iran, Trump, then stop raising the stakes. Because on one hand, you know, we wouldn't consider doing this and sending 120,000 troops to the Middle East to intimidate Iran. Of course we wouldn't do that. But if we did do something like that, we'd send a lot more than that.   Now understand this, he previously tweeted out that Obama in 2011 would start a war with Iran in order to help his reelection chances. But if Donald Trump perceives the prospect of war as giving him any sort of advantage whatsoever to help his reelection chances, then as Farron Cousins puts it, well, maybe he isn't necessarily as closed off to the idea of war with Iran as he has previously stated. And if he believes that there's some sort of perceived electoral payoff by engaging with Iran militarily, then maybe he will, because this is his thought process, right? He thought that Obama was willing to do it because it would help Obama get reelected. So if you have this idea that war will help your reelection chances, then maybe he'd do it himself. But I don't know. I hope that that's not the case, but you never know with Donald Trump. Now there's been other reports that there's been infighting within his own administration because Donald Trump has been frustrated reportedly with John Bolton, who is overly hawkish and militaristic, which is not a surprise to anyone.  But nonetheless, he basically denied that there was any infighting going on whatsoever, tweeting the fake news Washington Post and even more fake news New York Times are writing stories that there is infighting with respect to my strong policy in the Middle East. There is no infighting whatsoever. He then kind of contradicts this statement by saying different opinions are expressed and I make a decisive and final decision. It is a very simple process. All sides, all views and policies are covered. I'm sure that Iran will want to talk soon. He is so frustrating. So he says there's no infighting and then he says, well, you know, there's disagreements, but we're just hearing all views. And then he says, well, you know, we want Iran to come to the table. Dumbass.  Obama signed the Iran deal. You just didn't like it because Obama did it and you didn't do it. But if you can sign the same deal with Iran and put your name on it, then you'd like it. But because Obama did it, it's just bad by definition.  There's no driving ideology. There's no core philosophy with regard to foreign policy here. He's just shooting from the hip. We need coherency. We need you to be coherent and have an actual goal in mind. And for you to communicate that goal to us, because if you don't, then what's going to happen? You're going to get taken advantage of by war mongers in your administration. And that's exactly what has been happening. It's been happening with Venezuela.  So it may very well not be his first instinct to go to war with Iran because we all know that that's exactly what John Bolton wants and has been pushing for. But in order to save face and not make himself look weak, he'll go along with whatever John Bolton wants and pretend as if it was his idea. So he doesn't look like a pushover. So he doesn't look weak. Regardless, the situation is incredibly tense. And it's worse that we have someone who's basically an empty suit in power currently, who is able to easily be manipulated by war mongers who have this agenda, who have had this agenda for years. Back when John Bolton was in George W. Bush's administration, he was pushing for war. And now that he's in Trump's administration, he's doing what we all expected him to do, push for war with Iran. So the situation, regardless of how it turns out, now is incredibly tense. But thankfully we have real leaders in this country who are willing to speak out and call Donald Trump out. So I'm going to show you two videos. One is from Tulsi Gabbard. The other is from Bernie Sanders. In this first video, I'm going to show you it's short but concise. Tulsi is going to bluntly say what Donald Trump wants. President Trump says that he doesn't want war with Iran. But that's exactly what he wants, because that's exactly what Saudi Arabia, Netanyahu, al-Qaeda, Bolton, Haley and other neocons and neolibs want. That's what he puts first, not America. So that was short, sweet, but it was exactly what was needed. Donald Trump may claim that he doesn't want war with Iran and that he wants to strike some sort of a deal. But regardless, if John Bolton is able to catalyze a war with Iran under his nose, he's going to own it, he's going to go along with it, especially now that he may perceive some sort of electoral advantage because of a war. Now, in a different video, Bernie Sanders called out John Bolton specifically and warned us that what John Bolton wants is war with Iran. And it's incumbent on all of us to pay close attention to what's happening. Because if we don't, we could be looking at another disaster like we saw with the Iraq War. So I will leave you with Bernie Sanders' warning here. Today, The New York Times reported that, and I quote, at a meeting of President Trump's top national security aides last Thursday, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan presented an updated military plan that envisions sending as many as 120,000 troops to the Middle East, end of quote, to fight Iran. Let me be as clear as I can be. A war with Iran would be an absolute disaster. As former General Anthony Zinni stated, quote, if you like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, you will love the war in Iran, end of quote. I agree with General Zinni. 16 years ago, the United States committed one of the worst foreign policy blunders in the history of our country by attacking Iraq. That war was sold to the American people based on a series of lies about weapons of mass destruction. We should remember that one of the leading advocates for that war was John Bolton, who served then as a member of the Bush administration. Incredibly, even today, Bolton is one of the few remaining people in the world who continues to believe that that war was a good idea. Let us never forget that the Iraq war led to the deaths of more than 4,400 American troops, tens of thousands of American soldiers were wounded and many very severely, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians were killed. The Iraq war unleashed a wave of radicalism and destabilization across the region that we will be dealing with for many, many years. It was the biggest foreign policy disaster in the modern history of our country. And now, based on that disaster that he helped bring about in Iraq, it appears that John Bolton wants a war in Iran. A war in Iran would, in my view, be many times worse than the Iraq war. U.S. military leaders have repeatedly told us that if the United States would attack Iran, Iran would respond with attacks on U.S. troops and allies around the world. It would lead to the further destabilization of that region in a way that is unimaginable and would result in wars that would go on year after year after year and likely cost trillions of dollars. If you want to know what perpetual warfare is, never ending war, that's what a war with Iran would mean. The United States Congress must do everything it can to prevent a war with Iran. And by the way, not inconsequentially, the Constitution of the United States is very clear. And that is that it is the Congress and not the President who determines whether or not we go to war. And right now, as we did with Yemen, I am working hard to see if we can get 51 members of the U.S. Senate, as well as a majority in the House of Representatives, to make clear that before the President takes any military action in Iran or any place else, he must seek authorization from the Congress. Taking us into a war without congressional authorization would be unconstitutional and illegal. Let me be very clear in telling you that I do understand that Iran pursues a lot of bad policy. This is not a model government by any means. It represses its own population, massive corruption in that country, and it supports militant groups around the area. But the United States is strong enough to deal with these issues and others diplomatically, working with our allies around the world. And that is precisely what we should be doing. We do not need to fight another unnecessary war. So I ask all of the folks who are watching this program to stand up and fight back on this issue. We must not, we cannot allow ourselves to be dragged in to another terrible, terrible war, which in my view will impact not only our generation, but the generation that our children and grandchildren live in as well. Thank you all very much.