PLAY IS JUST AS CRUCIAL to a child's development and success as academics.

This was the message given to pupils of the Roland Edwards Primary School in St Peter during the official opening of the school's play park yesterday.

Eager pupils listened patiently to speakers, including Minister of Education Ronald Jones, district education officer Adrian Clement and principal Michael Watson during the ceremony, but it was clear that the youngsters could not wait until the formalities were over to try out the new facilities.

Clement told pupils that the play park was integral to the pupils' social, physical, psychological and academic development.

"It is through play that you learn to be a good team member and a good leader. You also learn how to solve your differences; how to deal with conflict. You don't have to fight and curse and quarrel every time something happens. All of these things you learn through play. At play, your brains become very active, trying to make certain decisions before they actually happen, to be proactive. You also learn to analyse, and we can't forget the physical development as well," he said.

He thanked Chefette Restaurants for partnering with the school to make the play park a reality.

In his feature address, Jones told pupils that the main responsibility they had as children was to learn and "learn well".

"We want you to be the best learners that this school and this country can produce. The investment placed in you at this time is an investment that your grandparents didn't have. I am proud that the school, like so many others, has developed a play park to give the young ones the opportunity to play, supervised by teachers, because you don't just let them run wild, but there must be supervision provided by teachers of this school and all of the other schools," said the minister.

Principal Watson said that ever since the restoration work on the park, he had been bombarded daily by pupils asking when they would be allowed to use the facilities.

"I'm sure that you are all very happy to know that today has finally come where the park will be officially opened and the equipment placed at your disposal.

"Our only hope is that you would treat the equipment in the way that you should to ensure that we are not asked to do refurbishing work in the near future. It is your park, it is our park, let us treat it properly," said Watson. (MR)