DLP’s Walters pledges school rebuilding, youth programmes in St Michael North West

Democratic Labour Party (DLP) candidate for St Michael North West, Ryan Walters, has promised a major overhaul of schools and new youth programmes in the constituency if elected, pledging to rebuild Deacon’s Primary and expand academic and cultural initiatives to support young people.

Walters told a political meeting that deteriorating school infrastructure across the constituency has been neglected for too long, directly affecting the learning environment for students.

“In education we’ve had a situation where the conditions of the school infrastructure in this constituency [are unacceptable],” Walters said, pointing to Deacon’s Primary, Eagle Hall Primary, St Stephen’s Primary, St Stephen’s Nursery and Ellerslie Secondary School.

“All of these schools are in this constituency, and in particular these are where our young boys and girls go. You’ve heard over the last couple of months the state of Deacon’s Primary School and the fact that nothing has been done to address it in the long term.”

Walters accused the incumbent Neil Rowe of being unable to bring about meaningful action, claiming that concerns raised had gone unanswered.

“Because again, the former member of parliament, his ability is limited only to writing a letter and his comrades are ignoring his letters,” he said.

As a result, Walters pledged that a DLP administration would prioritise major upgrades at Deacon’s Primary.

“We want to ensure that Deacon’s Primary School is either refurbished or rebuilt, because it is an ageing plant. We cannot have our children and our students going to school in those conditions,” he said.

He also raised concerns about the physical environment surrounding the school, which he said has contributed to health and safety issues.

“Behind [Deacons] Farm, if you walk down the gap, overgrown with bush… that is running the rodents in the school every time. That is disturbing the education of our young people,” Walters said. “So we’re going to address this… we’re going to get things done.”

Beyond infrastructure, the DLP candidate said his plans also include academic support and incentives aimed at boosting student performance and motivation.

“We are also going to introduce an after-school programme increasing the literacy of our children,” he said. “We are going to reintroduce the scholarship programmes that would have seen our young men and women awarded and rewarded for their hard work because they need that encouragement as well.”

Walters noted that such initiatives are not new, pointing to similar programmes implemented under previous DLP administrations.

“These are things that are not novel. These are things that happened in the previous Democratic Labour Party administration, and these are things that we can reintroduce for our young men and women to bring back some dignity to this community,” he said.

In addition to education, youth development and community cohesion would be a major focus through the establishment of a St Michael North West Youth and Culture Club, Walters said.

The initiative would bring together young people from communities including Deacon’s Farm, Free Hill, Pile Bay, Cave Hill and Black Rock, he explained.  

“That means that from a very young age we’re going to get our young men and our boys and girls to come together, form friendships, learn skills, craft, culture, steel pan and stilt walking,” Walters said.

He argued that such engagement is critical to addressing longstanding divisions and violence among young people in the constituency.

“But more importantly, this will start to break the barrier that exists in this constituency where there is war between our young men,” he said. “We must not be afraid to speak these things.”

His goal is to create a safer and more unified constituency, where young people can interact freely without fear, Walters said. 

“I want to lead a constituency as a member of parliament where I can hold a football tournament in Free Hill, and the fellas in Deacon’s Farm can go up there and play…without nobody got a gun in the waist,” he said.