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From:TheBahamasWeekly.com Bahamas Information Services Updates
KEYNOTE ADDRESS THE MOST HON. DR. HUBERT A. MINNIS PRIME MINISTER NAMING OF THE IVY L. DUMONT BUILDING UNIVERSITY DRIVE MONDAY, 5 JULY 2021 11:00 a.m. Your Excellencies; Ladies and Gentlemen: It is a great honor to be a part of this wonderful occasion, honoring a distinguished Bahamian patriot. Let me begin by wishing you all an early Happy Independence. Today’s event is a part of our official 48th Anniversary Independence celebrations.
As an educator, public officer, politician, religious and community leader, consummate professional, unionist, and as the first female Minister of Education and Governor-General, Dame Ivy Dumont has been an extraordinary citizen and servant-leader. To better appreciate the degree of Dame Ivy’s contributions, we should recall the era into which she was born and in which she grew up. Her early years were in the period during and immediately following the Second World War, which included a period of decolonization. She hails from Long Island, the birthplace of a number of Governors General and extraordinary educators. There is something special in the spirit of Long Islanders.
The Bahama Islands had no mineral resources or major industries. We were beginning to become a tourism destination of note.
The struggle for racial equality and Majority Rule was gathering pace and would reach greater fulfillment in 1967 and then with independence in 1973.
It was a period of nation-building, including the development of national institutions and greater access to education for all Bahamians.
There were few black professionals. Expectations for education among black Bahamians were limited, especially at the tertiary level.
One of the signature accomplishments of Majority Rule and Independence was the attainment of access to education at all levels for Bahamians. Every Bahamian child has access to education from the primary to the tertiary level.
We have had scores of great educators and thousands of Bahamians who have successfully graduated from the government-operated school system. ..TO CONTINUE SEE ATTACHED
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