866 non-Caymanian kids attending CIG schools

| 05/10/2023 | 127 Comments
John Gray High School
John Gray High School

(CNS) UPDATED re placement of local children: A freedom of information request by local law firm HSM Chambers revealed that there are currently 866 non-Caymanian children in government schools. According to the statistics released by the Department of Education Services (DES), 689 of those students were admitted in the last three years. Around a quarter of all children admitted into the government system now are not Caymanian.

The largest group (301) is expatriate children of public sector workers, followed by children whose parents are here on work permits (113). Another 238 are dependents of permanent residents; 29 are non-Caymanian dependents of Caymanians; five are refugees or asylum seekers, and there are even three children whose parents came here under the Global Citizen Programme that was rolled out during the pandemic.

In his latest Viewpoint published on CNS this week, Nick Joseph, a partner with HSM and a leading immigration expert, used the statistics to illustrate the profound problems Cayman is now experiencing as a result of its failure to enforce immigration laws.

There is an estimated population of nearly 84,000 people, according to the most recent Labour Force Survey conducted by the Economic and Statistics Office this spring and published today, and the government education system is just one part of society now being impacted by the failing immigration system.

While the parents of non-Caymanian children are expected to pay, this is not always the case and the fees, ranging from $250 per term for primary-age children to $400 for students in high school, fall far short of the actual cost of the education provided.

The revelation of the increase in the number of expatriate children in government schools comes at a time when the system is overflowing and many schools are completely full up.

According to the latest information on the DES website, John Gray and Clifton Hunter High Schools are both completely full. Most primary schools have several year groups that are also full, especially Reception and Year 1, while at Prospect Primary, all of the year groups except for Year 4 are full.

According to the FOI release, 40 Caymanian children who should have been enrolled this academic year did not get a place. However, since then, DES officials told CNS that these children’s applications were late, and 21 have now been placed in schools. The other 19 will be placed as soon as the application process is complete.

In his Viewpoint, Joseph pointed out that for the first time, Caymanian children are being denied access to school because there is no room. Some local parents have placed their kids in private schools, but others are now home-schooling. There is significant support for school reintegration so that expatriate and Caymanian children are educated together, which Joseph said was critical to help society in general. However, like many other people, he is concerned that this should not be happening at the expense of Caymanian children.

“That we appear unprepared to deal with the consequences of having so many children here is troubling,” Joseph said in his piece, noting that there we are still a year away from the “Covid Baby Boom” hitting our education system.

Joseph has been raising the alarm for several years now about a catalogue of issues surrounding immigration and the road to Caymanian status. He said that applicants seeking residency under the points system with children of school age are deemed to have CI$15,000 less income than they in fact have in order to take account of the cost of private education.

“The ability of any expatriate to ‘maintain themselves and their dependents’ remains described as ‘of paramount importance’ in the regulations concerning the grant of permanent residence,” Joseph said but noted that this is not uniformly followed as he raised the alarm about the failure to plan for this inevitability.

See the documents released to HSM under the FOI Act in the CNS Library.


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Category: Education, Local News, Policy, Politics

Comments (127)

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  1. Santana says:

    Why private schools are so expensive?

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  2. Anonymous says:

    my child is naturalized generational caymanian…i had to put her in truth for youth at 550.00 per month..no room in public schools! sad…so what is julie saying? my daughter a fellow bracker decendant?

  3. Anonymous says:

    Government -past and present are trying to play hero to the world. This is nothing short of treason against us CAYMANIANS. Disgraceful to say the least.

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  4. Anonymous says:

    Cayman is once again, as it was in earlier times, just an administrative region of Jamaica. CIG is being run as an employment agency for Jamaicans.

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  5. Anonymous says:

    I have an idea that should be able to get an aspiring group of politicians elected but it requires common sense business policies.

    I believe public education spending is out of control and is well over $6k per month per child. This is unsustainable and politicos like Juliana are to blame. She doubles or triples education spending and her education bureaucracy fails so miserably that just 30% of all public primary students achieve a satisfactory competence level in the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. RIDICULOUS, UNACCEPTABLE and WASTEFUL PERIOD.

    #1. With all the world class accountants on the Island let’s turn the spotlight on this and audit CIG education spending to get the true costs.

    #2. Hold public education bureaucracy accountable on their runaway spending, poor policy choices and abysmal results.

    #3. Introduce competition into public education by decentralizing it. Empower all Caymanian parents to choose where to send their children to school. Do this by offering annual vouchers of say 1/3 the current CIG education cost determined by the auditors in Step 1.

    A voucher can be redeemed at any private school on the Island. Parents who choose to continue sending their children to public schools have the liberty to do so.

    For each child opting out of the public school system, the CIG education budget should be statutorily reduced by 50% of the current expenditure per student. This would still allow CIG an approximate 17% inefficiency and overhead allowance while reducing education spending by 50% per voucher.

    They can choose to keep their children in government schools or they can receive vouchers for 1/3 or so of the cost of current government education.

    Education results will likely improve as private schools are more accountable than public schools while saving 50%.

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  6. Anonymous says:

    If the government schools were charging them the same exorbitant rates that the private schools charge…I would see no problem.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Just because they aren’t charging for government schools directly doesn’t mean they aren’t charging indirectly.

      They are wasting public funds for an inferior education.

      Power to the parents.

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  7. Anonymous says:

    I thought the stipulation of the Global Citizen Program was that the people who took part in it had to pay their own way and cover all of their own costs? now there’s 3 kids from such patents enrolled in Government School. So if they can’t affort private schools (and their extortionate prices) for their kids, then why are they even here?

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    • Anonymous says:

      An investigation should and must be done to identify how these 3 kids of parents under the Global Citizen Program got enrolled in our Government School. This is very disturbing.

  8. Anonymous says:

    This is an absolute F&&*-up. Why hasn’t Juliana’s resignation been called for?

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  9. Anon says:

    As an Expat I was very aware of the requirement for Private School placement, and had no problem with that… at the time. What has happened is a huge increase in the cost of living, Rents, food, Utilities etc….. and with that of course School fees increase. I pay $3k per month for my kids and it took me 4 years to get both my kids into their school, we had to chop and change schools as places became available…. all whilst paying “space holding” fees at numerous schools, in the hopes my kids would not be without a space…
    To keep the lights on in our home (very modest, no extras, normal middle class living) we pay nearly $10k a month, that was about $6k in 2018 when we arrived here.
    Wages do not increase but the cost of living is absolutely spiraling.
    Expats do not earn the salaries many believe they do…. Its the truth.
    So maybe the expats that have been here for years and call this Island home, are now having to place their kids in CIG Schools as they are also on the breadline?
    This is not a dig at anyone, I just sometimes feel that people think expats are living the LIFE here, but really we are just getting by too… if that?!

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    • Afraid for our children says:

      You pay nearly $10K per month “living modestly” keeping the lights on? Food, tv, power, phones, rent, stuff like that?

      I have never in my lifetime make anywhere near $10K per month, and likely never will. I feel for your situation, really, however it is difficult to truly relate. To make even $5K per month would be a windfall in my household.

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    • Anonymous says:

      I know right? People should see the cost of fueling the average middle class family jet and spare a thought…

      • Anonymous says:

        Ah what a useful comment. Maybe this is what is wrong with Cayman……
        My kids are in school with predominantly Caymanian kids, is it Expats fault that these Caymanian families are paying for Private schools? Nope, they have worked to do so. Just like Expats.
        Cayman is in this position because CAYMAN let itself be in this position.

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    • Anonymous says:

      There is the assumption that you are here because the life here is better than the life in your home country, yes. Regardless what your metric is (safety, beach, money whatever).

      There’s very little you can say that would convince caymanians that you are worse off here than at home, so you will get very little sympathy.

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    • Anonymous says:

      $10k a month for CUC is NOT “normal middle class living”!

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      • Anonymous says:

        read the comment… where did it say 10k for CUC…. Grasping at straws there!

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        • Anonymous says:

          Did you not see in the article it says “To keep the lights on in our home we pay nearly $10k a month” so what do you think that implies to readers? CUC duhhhhh!!!

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    • Anonymous says:

      Anon. why are you still here complaining? I am sure your home are worse than here otherwise you would not be HERE complaining. Feel free to go back home and comlain about there ok.

  10. Anonymous says:

    The Cayman Islands have a legal obligation to provide free primary and secondary education to all resident children whatever their parents’ nationality. The current system fall way short and is just becoming a larger contingent liability on the nation’s books to add to the other funding shortfalls.

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    • Anonymous says:

      You misunderstand Cayman Law. First and foremost, the children (unless they are Caymanian) should not be given any permission to be resident UNLESS arrangement has been made for their paid for education.

      THAT is where and how the obligations lie. On the expatriates, NOT on the Caymanians.

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    • Anonymous says:

      You need to look up what the law actually says.

    • Anonymous says:

      If you are a guest worker and cannot afford to send your children to school, you and them should not be here. I will NOT pay for you. I have enough struggles myself.

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  11. Anonymous says:

    The thing to remember here is that government knows, with 5 years notice, almost exactly how many Caymanian children they are going to need to educate. Government also controls how many expats they employ in the public sector and how many kids they have. Government also know how many school spaces there are and will be in 5 years. This was entirely avoidable.

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  12. Anonymous says:

    At the gov primary school my kids go to there are 3 expat staff members with kids enrolled. Hope they aren’t in the classes with no room.

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    • Anonymous says:

      You would rather the expat teachers weren’t there? Guessing places for their kids part of the package, as a teacher wont
      be able to send their kids to Prep or CIS. Save your wrath for the fact that we manage to build schools at such an obscene price that we then have to economise on teachers and cant build enough schools for the population. Thing is those in power to make those decisions – MPs and senior civil servants – don’t care because they get paid so much their kids are in private school.

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      • Anonymous says:

        How many children do you intend to bring with you? Is an appropriate immigration question, and one which EVERY private school teacher has to answer. The reality under our laws: no suitable arrangements for your children (whether private, public or home school) then no permit or permission for dependents to accompany. If that means we have to only recruit teachers (or police, or nurses, etc.) with no (or grown) children, then so be it. This all has to work first and foremost for Cayman AND the Caymanian people.

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        • Al Catraz says:

          You aren’t going to like what you find if you emphasize recruitment of people who are educated, childless and intend to stay that way.

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      • Annonymous says:

        No contracted Govt worker should be offered free schooling & Health insurance. They should have to pay 20% toward insurance & pay at least $500 monthly to attend Govt schools. They should also be offered a fixed 5 year contract/permit and then go home.

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  13. Anonymous says:

    A straight cap on work permits is unlikely to happen imo.

    Here’s another option:
    All future work permit approvals (new or renewals) include the restriction of no dependents can live on the island. Change the law to reflect this. By including renewals, you can reverse the course of those already on island.

    The roll over policy was implemented and this would be similar in many ways.

    There are more than enough childless singles and couples in the world who will gladly fill the vacancies in Cayman.

    It is a win-win-win for all- more detached homes will come on the market for Caymanian families as the expat families vacate. Enrolment spaces in school will open. Less people doing the school drop off run.

    💯 🌴 ⚡️ ✅ 🤔 👍 🤛🏽 👌 👮🏽 🌴 🌝 🌈 🥇 🚌 🚲 🛵 🏖️ 🛎️

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    • Anonymous says:

      Absolutely clueless. It’s hard enough hiring qualified people to come here without excluding 90% of the professional population!

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      • Anonymous says:

        There are 100 people in the world dreaming of almost every job on offer in Cayman. We can afford to be choosy. In fact, we cannot afford not to be.

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  14. Anonymous says:

    As the old commercial said: “That’s what you get”

    Want something different? Vote different. Get involved.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Ummmm, problem was created by the PPM. Just sayin.

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      • Annonymous says:

        9.09pm PPM didn’t give 12000 Jamaicans status in 2003 that was Mac’s crew. That was the beginning of the end for Cayman.

    • Anonymous says:

      Those who vote for Mac Kenny Saunders and Seymour, already got what they want…..Handouts.
      Those of us who don’t want to be dominated by imported economic dependents , have little choice but to weave the fabric of society faster than it can be unraveled.
      That and, employ Philipinos..

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  15. Anonymous says:

    If Caymanians cared at all about their children, they would never put them in a government school.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Great if you have $20k a year per kid to spend.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Some people have to say something and some people have something to say. It is obvious which one you are with such unsubstantiated drivel.

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  16. Lily says:

    Are Caymanians racist? Why can’t the government place the Caymanians nationals first, and then give space to the remaining kids regardless of what nationality they are? And why make it so difficult for Jamaican kids to get into government schools? And tuition for private schools are way too high. I thought Caymanians were mostly Jamaicans anyway.

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    • Anonymous says:

      yes they are…..and they think they are great ‘christians’ too….

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    • Gray says:

      Not in my neighborhood

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    • Anonymous says:

      @2:47pm – I am a Caymanian and to answer your first question YES but that is a minority.

      In the broader spectrum most Caymanians do not have a problem with expats but when they behave as if they come to take over and expect to receive what Caymanians can not even get in their own country then that is a huge problem because I’m quite sure we could never go to someone else’s country and behave that way.

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  17. Anonymous says:

    It simply makes no sense whatsoever that the CIG cannot properly plan to ensure that all Caymanian children have a place in the public school system. That some Caymanian kids are missing out is a real failure.

    However, some of the comments here, which seem to suggest that expats are taking advantage of the system to send their children to public schools are ridiculous.

    More particularly, I think it is safe to say that if any parent, Caymanian or Expat, could afford to send their children to private school, they would. I can only presume that the majority (if not all) of the children of expats attending public schools are there because their parents do not earn anywhere near enough to send their children to private school. People seem to forget that there are many low paid jobs done by foreigners who also have children who need to be educated.

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    • Anonymous says:

      The largest group (301) is expatriate children of public sector workers

      They also get 100% healthcare and cost-of-living perks – whereas we Caymanians in the local white collar commercial businesses cannot afford our health insurance, CUC, and groceries in the same month?

      The problem lies with the Gov.ky civil service bloat and preference to hire from overseas. A job in civil service blocks that role for life (sorry younger generation, you have to wait for the expat public sector worker to retire?)

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  18. Anonymous says:

    Meanwhile you have Caymanian students in the newly upgraded John Gray destroying the building. These children and their parents need to be held accountable for the damage to property laid for by fees by the people. Its like a juvenile detention center except worse because there is no discipline and oversight. Soon these children will be let out in the real world thinking there are no consequences and that they are owed s$&t just for being Caymanian. Then they’ll start whining about how there are no opportunities for them while adding to the population more children that grew up like them all while being a burden to society and NAU. Make it make sense.

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  19. Anonymous says:

    Why would you want your kids to go to a government school anyway? I’ll conduct my own exorcisms thank you very much.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Yeah, guys, why would anyone want to be poor anyway? Why don’t you just all be wealthy instead? That way you can just send your kids to the private schools!

      Real big brain moment here.

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  20. Anonymous says:

    those kids deserve better than cig schooling.

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  21. Anonymous says:

    Caymanians are the weakest of all the nationalities i have come into contact with. Utterly weak, for such a small island where all the politicians walk around and laugh and joke with everyone, one would believe that everything is jolly and that Caymanians are in full support of THEIR governments policies. TRAFFIC,BEACH EROSION, OVER DEVELOPEMENT, VIOLENCE AND CRIME. Seems like thats the Cayman way now. and just to be honest, Cayman is over populated with Jamaicans and Philipinos. these 2 nationalities by themselves account for more than a quarter of the entire population!

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    • Annonymous says:

      12.34pm A quarter? Jamaicans alone are 60%. You obviously don’t recognize one of them when you see them.

  22. Anonymous says:

    Ha! Just like everything else in Cayman – Caymanians are the absolute last priority in their own islands!

    Absolutely Disgraceful @CIG! Unna wutless bad!

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  23. Anonymous says:

    Ok so I don’t know exactly how all of this happened but let’s be really frank for a second because the solution is much simpler than anyone has said. The FOI states that 40 Caymanian kids who should be in school have no spot.

    Find them a damn spot. Surely they’re not all the same age or in the same district or the same school. So maybe each school needs to find room for 4-5 kids. How difficult could that possibly be. The school isn’t an airplane with a fixed number of seats.

    We just built this giant new high school. We’ve added on and modified other schools. The long term solution is a bigger issue and will take more thought but in the damned meantime just fit the kids in.

    The fact that our educational system can’t handle that speaks to their utter lack of problem solving capacity.

    It’s only 40 kids. Find the space

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    • Anonymous says:

      40 kids this year. Won’t fix the wider problem. First, why aren’t there enough school places given the size of the education budget. Ext, why aren’t the rules that give priority to CaymaniN children being enforced. Answer to both questions is the same. We elect the stupid and the corrupt. The budget gets blown on massively overpriced school buildings much to the joy of the construction industry and no doubt their MP friends, and then we turn a blind eye t to the rules in admissions so we can keep our expat police and civil servants happy.

      • Anonymous says:

        That’s what I was thinking! Don’t blame the “expats”, blame whoever is letting these kids into government schools. It’s not like non-Caymanians are pushing their way into to anywhere. Forms are filled, papers are granted… Blame those whose signatures are on those papers! They are the real culprits and not following rules that are in place to protect Cayman’s infrastructure.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Why are all these work permit holders being allowed to have all their children here in the government school anyway? Is it because they are lower paid employees from third world countries that have employers who have political connections?

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    • Anonymous says:

      Just give the Caymanian parents vouchers and let the parents choose where to send their children.

      The CIG Education Bureaucracy is so out of control its a joke.

      Their budget needs to be halved.

      Incompetent money wasting fools drunk on power.

    • Annonymous says:

      Reopen George Hicks Middle school. Shouldn’t have been closed in the first place This frees up High school places and removes younger kids from the older kids influence.

  24. Fed up says:

    The government is too slow to keep up with the population growth. More children on island means they should built more schools. When they going to build new high school in west bay?

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  25. Anonymous says:

    I am a “new” Caymanian – mention that because I can see the expat side – and even with my expat roots think this is an absolute disgrace. The rules have always been clear – you come here as an expat and want to bring your kids with you or have kids here, you have to make arrangements for their education privately to ensure public money is not spent on their education. You know that in advance of coming – its part of the deal.

    You can argue about whether its good or bad to segregate expat children from Caymanians in education; personally I think its bad BUT even if expats are prepared to apply for public school if there isn’t enough space of course Caymanians should have priority. How can you begin to justify a Caymanian child not being able to secure a space in school because its been taken by an expat? Its nothing short of a scandal, made worse by the fact that the government is the biggest single abuser of the system by offering those places to its expat employees. Ju Ju should hang her head in shame – she either knew and acquiesced in this, or didnt know and has no command over her brief.

    Of course there is a compounding factor in that if we didnt spend obscene amounts of money to build schools that could be built at a fraction of the price if we didnt factor in doing favours for local contractors and disastrous project management we would no doubt have enough room for expat and Caymanian children – and no doubt a more integrated society going forward, but allocating the resulting fewer number of spaces at school to expat children ahead of Caymanians is appalling. Everyone complains that Caymanians ability to compete with foreign labor is undermined by educational quality and then CIG decides to double down and exclude Caymanians from access to education – words fail me. How can we elect complete clowns like these?

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    • Anonymous says:

      Remember the 2003 status giveaways? Julianna was part of that, so she helped cause this problem.

  26. Speechless says:

    So let me get his straight. It is not enough that I have to pay for private education while at the same time my tax dollars are being wasted paying for public education that my born and raised Caymanian children cannot partake in because the public school education is sub-standard and becoming more and more like urban American public schools, but I also have to accept that my tax dollars are being used to educate non-Caymanian children in those very same public schools?

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  27. Anonymous says:

    This needs to be fixed!
    If I’m to hazard a guess,It would be that 80% of these
    foreign kids are of Jamaican nationality (please correct me if you know differently).
    Simply,too much infiltration of one particular nationality.

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  28. Anonymous says:

    Once again, expats are ruining this country?

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    • Anonymous says:

      The people allowing this to happen are multi generational Caymanians elected by Caymanians. All they have to do is enforce the rules to ensure Cayman kids get priority and it wouldn’t occur. But you want to blame the expats. OK.

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    • Anonymous says:

      The FOI quickly outline the problem: Our Civil Service is a one-way ticket to PR. Why is the civil service giving free (near free term rates) to recruit from overseas? The bloat of the Civil Service expat welcome is shameless. Try to apply for a Gov.ky role in Administration, IT, or HSA and many jobs are taken by expats.

      We tell our kids to go to UCCI and overseas for uni education (with CI scholarship that require they come back
      and work in Cayman!!) and when they come back a Civil Service job has been granted 2yrs, 4 yrs + and no succession planning for own own?

      Are you a skilled overseas worker? Welcome to Cayman with your spouse and children, but our own cannot get in the front door?

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      • Anonymous says:

        Maybe, just maybe, the jobs require certifications, experience and degrees specific to the postings.

        Don’t blame the postings and expats. The modern world is an even playing field. Learn to compete and stop thinking you’re owed anything.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Jamaicans are ex pats ..

  29. Anonymous says:

    In 1972 I moved from Cayman Islands High School to a Grammar school in the UK where I successfully completed many O’ Levels. When I was returning in August 1973 to resume 6th Form studies at that school, I was stopped by Heathrow Immigration, my passport taken away and told that I must find a “fee paying school” and be enrolled. My parents had to scramble to find me a very expensive “public” school (boarding school) where I completed my A’ Levels.

    The Home Office actually directed my schooling choice!!

    If it is good for the UK to ensure “foreign” (BOTC) students pay their way, then so be it in Cayman!!

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    • Anonymous says:

      The rules have changed since the 70’s! BOTC students are treated as ‘local’ for university as well and pay ‘home’ fees.

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  30. Anonymous says:

    Biggest issues are the expat workers in the civil service. They are allowed to put their kids into the public school, taking away a spot for Caymanian children. They are then given the benefit of having to renew their contract every few years, which gives them bargaining power with government and more able to receive a pay increase. While Caymanian civil servants are pretty much stuck at the pay scale that they entered on without the ability to negotiate pay increases over the years.

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  31. Anonymous says:

    Could maybe remove all the wutless kids from the schools now, and prioritize spaces for those who want to learn?

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  32. Ghost tape No. 10 says:

    Caymanians should NEVER be denied education! If the schools are full, no work permits should be issued for expats with school age children.

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    • Anonymous says:

      No. The condition on the work permit that the children be in school at the parent’s expense should be followed.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Thank Nick Joseph for his well researched article but the people running, or ruining, this island are not listening, or not smart enough to understand. It’s not

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  33. Anonymous says:

    See the very divide that Nick Joseph said he didn’t want to happen is happening. Sigh

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  34. Anonymous says:

    This figure doesn’t include kids who are born of foreign born parents who are not actually Caymanian. Take those into account and number is at least 2000. Visit any Govt school and most kids are Jamaican.

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  35. Anonymous says:

    No comment from the “Minister of Education”? I’m shocked.

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  36. Anonymous says:

    Obvious that both the education minister (where was the warning?) and the government, hadn’t a clue about this. Seriously worrying complete lack of planning; these are new schools surely designed to accommodate predicted long term demand!
    Suddenly we need two more new high schools. That we can’t afford.
    Thanks for nothing, politicians.

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    • Anonymous says:

      No. We just need to charge proper school fees for the expat kids, curtail the ridiculous benefits available to all civil servants, and give deserving Caymanian kids the opportunity to attend private school (with financial support from Government).

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      • Anonymous says:

        Given the cost per pupil in public schools is 60% more than the average cost of private school it makes sense for government to offer scholarships to private schools for the most capable Caymanian students but they won’t because then the public school exam results would be absolutely catastrophic.

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    • Anonymous says:

      We first got to pay some wutless foreign consultants millions to build our 100 Million dollar prison. If any money left after paying their fees and expenses, then maybe we’ll get a new chalkboard.

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  37. Anonymous says:

    238 are dependents of permanent residents
    Some basic Maths….if Government charged the typical private school fees of approx $1300/month for 10 months of the year to the parents of those children the total revenue generated is $3,094,000 per year!!!!!!

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    • Anonymous says:

      That wouldn’t be fair as the government schools are no where near as good education as the private schools.

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      • Anonymous says:

        If an expat doesn’t like the quality of the education at the government school why do they have their kids there? If it cost the same as a private school it would prevent them taking a space from a kid who may have no other choice.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Depends on the private school…read some of the inspection reports….

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  38. Anonymous says:

    I think that foreign workers should not be allowed to put their kids in school.
    On the Brac, where there are no private schools, the recent influx of children of expats has created quite a stir. I am not against letting these kids get an education but goodness, the recently enrolled students have created havoc with their behaviour/ diagnoses. They should be screened prior to allotting our resources, human and otherwise, to these very challenges students.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Please share more information about concerns in Brac for expat children in schools. How are they creating havoc?

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  39. Anonymous says:

    I am Caymanian, my son is Caymanian and when I tried to register him for high school after returning home from living overseas I was told there was no space for him. So as a single mom my only choice is to pay for private school.

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  40. Anonymous says:

    Maybe start by raising the fees for the non-Caymanian ones and enforce it. CIG can also give grants to the Caymanian kids to go to private schools if there is no space for them in public schools. Or, maybe for non-Caymanians with children there should be an income tax. As well as property tax on non-Caymanian physical land owners, foreign, and corporate entities land/property ownership. Maybe a fixed % of the original stamp duty annually.

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    • Really... says:

      If you want to pay direct tax then go live anywhere else!

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    • Anonymous says:

      That makes too much sense.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Allow property tax and see money and people flowing to Turks and Caicos. The outsiders are not fools to invest overseas if they will be taxed the same way as back home. Why not the government get out of education business and give each cayman kid vouchers for education and reduced work permit fees for private service providers? This will be a win win situation.

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    • TheYellowCrayon says:

      Yeah, no, last thing we need is more people waiting on handouts. Imposing tax on individuals based on their nationality isn’t ethical or logical. This is a clear example of why education is important.

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  41. Anonymous says:

    I’m certain these expats have a lot of incentives tied to theirs salaries and are paid much greater than the caymanian at the same level, yet we deny our own children a right of passage in their own country.

    Shame on our politicians and for those expats that know better.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Same on the voters who voted for these worthless policiations. They are not too bright,but what to do ? can’t fix stupid.

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  42. Anonymous says:

    This is very concerning. We’re heading to the tipping point on all fronts.

    We have become second class citizens in our own country. All of this was done at the hands of our own!

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  43. Elvis says:

    And your just realizing this? Hahaha listen, you lot have been letting ppl from a certain country in like they going out of fashion. WTH did you expect

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  44. Anonymous says:

    These schools need perches installing, since there are a lot of hens coming home to roost.

    This isn’t a situation that was unforeseeable. Oh deary me.

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  45. Anonymous says:

    Caymanian kids are being denied access to Government schools because they’re full up? Wtf?! Thank God I was able to attend school when I did!

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    • Anonymous says:

      Government only has 5 years to get ready for them. That is the period between when government has to give them a birth certificate and when government requires them to start school. It is not long enough. I propose we move the start date of education to the age of 10. That is a nice number, and gives government more time to plan for the start of the school year.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Why give them an education at all? Even after going to school they can’t do basic math and know very little outside social media.
        Was told by an adult here that China had saved the allies in WW2!!

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        • Anonymous says:

          That’s a right answer. And I also learnt Pegasus used to roam freely in Brac a long time ago.

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          • Anonymous says:

            And according to the minister of education the earth is 4000 years old. Her comments on Hindus some years ago which I won’t repeat would have gotten her in problems in countries with hate speech provisions.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Interesting that our own MPs who are responsible for our well being , did not know , or care to mention this , OR do something about it.
      Next time Kenny or any of them two faced parasites utter the words “My people” remember they don’t want your welfare, they want your votes.

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  46. Anonymous says:

    Good thing my children are grown as they would have to find space for mine or pay for me to send them to private school. Successive government has failed to plan we cannot expand without healthcare, schools, roads general infrastructure is growing at the same pace. Sad and yet persons are wanted more and more persons here why???? So the merchants can make more money …..greed to me

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  47. Anonymous says:

    This is scandalous.

    We have to ask, are there particular people in particular positions who may be interpreting our own rules against us, for the benefit of others? Might such a set of circumstances be possible?

    Or is this just atrocious mismanagement by a billion-dollar civil service?

    Corruption or incompetence? Are those really the choices? Is this what the “jewel of the Caribbean” has come to?

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    • Anonymous says:

      This is a disgrace. Foreigners can get space in Govt schools for their children, pay no fees while Caymanian children have to be home schooled or not schooled? Anyone stop to think how these children are being homeschooled, what is the criteria for home schooling in Cayman? Are children left at home unsupervised? Are they attending classes as and when required? Why are foreign workers whose children go to Govt schools not paying school fees? Why aren’t Caymanian children not given priority for school registration? To the last two questions, I would dare say, it’s because there are too many foreigners in the Civil Service. They do what they want, and get what they want while Caymanians are left out. Our politicians need to address this matter.

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      • Anonymous says:

        It doesn’t say anywhere that foreign workers with children in Govt schools aren’t paying fees. In fact it points out that Govt schools can charge fees to non-Caymanians, but that they may not represent the full cost of education (in which case that’s an administrative / invoicing issue). But I would agree that fee-paying expat kids should be behind Caymanian kids in the order of allocating places.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Deputy Governor? Any comment, Franz? How did this happen? Who is responsible?

      Let me guess. No one. Wonderland.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Franz ? Could someone please tell us what he did to help Caymanians in all his years in Government.

  48. Anonymous says:

    *grabs popcorn*

    *waits to watch the comments roll in*

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