Dismal national grade point averages, teacher shortages and overcrowded classrooms are just some of the issues that Minister of Education Jeffrey Lloyd will be faced with, but the minister said he is ready to take them on.

Mr. Lloyd’s comments were made yesterday prior to the first cabinet meeting at the Office of the Prime Minister, where he also noted that education remains the primary vehicle of transformation in the country.

“We recognize that unfortunately the minimum requirements are not being met by the students who leave school. Those requirements for graduation, less than 50 percent of them are in fact meeting the requirements and we believe that has to be improved substantially,” he said.

“We have proposed and are committing to making early childhood education particularly preschool available to all two-and-a-half to three-year-olds.”

Mr. Lloyd also cautioned the public that this is a transformational process that will not happen overnight.

“It’s going to take time natural.  We are going to have to learn the lay of the land.  It is a wide and expansive ministry and department,” he said.

“Once we get an understating of exactly where we are, then begin to implement the proposal and commitments that we have made we expect great things out of education and great things out of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.”