Caption: Members of the government in garb celebrating the Shouter Baptist community ahead of the public holiday on Monday
Summary
- New School Announced: Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced in Parliament that the Government will establish a long-awaited secondary school for the Spiritual Shouter Baptist community.
- Political Track Record: The PM highlighted her long history of advancing the community’s educational infrastructure, contrasting her party’s actions with what she called the ‘hypocritical’ lip service of the Opposition.
- Parliamentary Clash: The announcement sparked a brief uproar when the Opposition objected to the PM referring to her childhood self as a ‘lil’ coolie girl.’ House Speaker Jagdeo Singh allowed the remark, ruling it was anecdotal and self-directed.
By Prior Beharry
PRIME Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has announced that the Government will partner with the Spiritual Shouter Baptist community to establish its first-ever secondary school.
The Prime Minister made the announcement while delivering greetings in Parliament on Friday, ahead of Monday’s Spiritual Shouter Baptist Liberation Day public holiday.
Noting that Cabinet had officially agreed to the initiative, Persad-Bissessar said the school will fulfill a long-standing request from the religious group.
“They have been yearning, moaning, groaning that they want a secondary school,” Persad-Bissessar told the Parliament.
She recalled that, as a Cabinet member under the late former prime minister Basdeo Panday, she signed the deed granting lands to the Baptist community. Later, as Education Minister, she facilitated the construction of their primary school, and during a previous term as Prime Minister, she worked alongside former senator Archbishop Barbara Gray-Burke to establish an Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Centre.
The school – the St Barbara’s Spiritual Shouter Baptist Primary School – was opened by Persad-Bissessar, as prime minister on March 30, 2012.
The new secondary school fulfills a pledge she made as Opposition Leader in 2024 during a thanksgiving event in the Moruga/Tableland constituency, she said.
Persad-Bissessar accused the People’s National Movement (PNM) of being hypocritical and giving “nothing” to the community. She stated that her government does not just pay lip service, stressing that granting land alone is not enough, as education is the true way out of poverty.
Persad-Bissessar revealed she was baptised as a Spiritual Shouter Baptist as a child, an experience she said helped shape her life. She recalled that her father, a “Brahmin” Hindu, took her—“this lil’ coolie girl from dong wherever”—to be baptised at Quinam Beach. She said the reverend mother still recalling tying her head in Baptist garb.
San Fernando East MP Brian Manning objected, asking House Speaker Jagdeo Singh whether the controversial word would be allowed to remain on the Hansard record.
@azpnews.com Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar says her government will give the Baptist community a secondary school. Recalls how she was baptized as a child. @pmkamlapersadbissessar @uncandproud2025 @uncandproud #sprirtualbaptist #baptist #secondaryschool #education #kamlapersadbissessar
Speaker Singh overruled the objection, stating that the word was used anecdotally and was not directed at anyone.
Defending her use of the term, Persad-Bissessar declared she called herself that because she was “not ashamed” of her roots, firing back at the Opposition: “you have said worse.”
