Prime Minister Godwin Friday and other members of the Cabinet welcomed teachers and students from the Bequia SDA Primary on Thursday, May 7, 2026. The students, as curious as ever, came prepared with questions for their Area Representative and Minister of Finance.
During the visit, the students received a firsthand lesson on how the government operates and the complexities of national governance.
Addressing the children, it was explained how government plans are brought to reality, with the caveat that while every minister comes to the table with their own proposals, difficult choices must be made because all plans require financial resources.
The students were taught that “no matter how good they are, we may not be able to do all of them at the same time” due to these budget constraints.
The children learned that governance starts with a simple idea, which is then developed by consulting experts in specific fields, such as healthcare professionals.
From there, ministers work collaboratively to make critical decisions for the country and determine which laws will be taken to parliament. Once these decisions are finalized, individual ministers take on the responsibility of ensuring those policies are implemented into everyday life.
To make the lesson relatable, the speaker shared a humorous hypothetical scenario with the students.
He joked about introducing a strict new policy where students would get no more holidays and be required to stay in school until 6:00 in the evening.
While quickly reassuring the children that such a rule won’t actually happen, he used the example to illustrate that if it were to become real, the Minister of Education would be the person directly responsible for making sure it was enforced.