NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (July 04, 2013) — Premier of Nevis and Minister responsible for Education in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) Hon. Vance Amory said his Administration would clamp down on the quality, time and duration of shows involving children during the upcoming Cultural Festival.
Mr. Amory made his Administration’s position on the situation clear in response to a caller’s concerns when he was a guest along with Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of the Nevis Police Division Robert Liburd, on a special edition of Voice of Nevis (VON) Radio’s weekly “Let’s Talk” programme, on July 02, 2013, to discuss the recent wave of criminal activity experienced on the island.
“We will no doubt send a reminder, a directive to the schools in respect of the time of start of shows, the quality of the performances so that we do not, by encouraging lewdness,…make them believe that it is OK to behave like that and then down the road, when they begin to act in an irresponsible manner, anti-social manner then we begin to reign them in,” he said.
The Premier further explained why he felt that those measures that would be implemented during Culturama would augur well for the island’s future generation.
“During this Culturama, we will certainly ask all the teachers involved and all the schools involved in the Culturama shows that the performance of our children is good quality. It is there for entertainment. It is not there to denigrate or to show the other side or the anti-social side of our children and while we may believe that it is cute…we have to recognise that when you teach someone to do something which is unacceptable and because it is a Culturama show people will laugh; having laughed then what we are doing is giving encouragement to a type of behaviour, a type of dress which is not in the best interest of our traditions, of our culture even.
“We have to make sure that this is taken into consideration by the producers of the programmes, the designers of the performances, the choreographers that they do so tastefully, sure to give entertainment but to get the best talent out of our children and ensure that the shows also start on time and that the children are home by a reasonable time,” he said.
According to Mr. Amory, the other shows which didn’t pertain to school-age children could continue as normal however and stressed that the new measures would not have any negative impacts on the Festival.
“I think it will only enhance what people see and I assure you…the people of this country, that our community and the people that come to view our shows will feel much better about what we are doing,” he said.
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