While speaking during the recent swearing-in ceremony for lawmakers in the House of Assembly (HOA), Minister de Castro indicated that she has learnt some valuable lessons from her first term.

“It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge that you (voters) have given me a second term, a second chance,“ de Castro said during the recent House sitting. “And in full transparency, there are some things that I did not know then, that I know now.”

She added: “So I vow in this race to use the lessons learned, the knowledge gained, the encouragement and admonition given to lead loudly, yet humbly; passionately, yet purposefully and boldly in service to this territory.”

The minister previously received public criticism over her relative silence, particularly in relation to some of the deep-seated governance issues that have plagued the previous Andrew Fahie-led administration where she received her first ministerial appointment.

Some commentators have suggested that this criticism may have been unfair, since other first-term elected officials were equally silent in the face of accusations of political misfeasance against the Fahie-led government.

de Castro, in the meantime, thanked voters for the renewed faith they had placed in her. She vowed that she will make decisions in the best interest of the people and insisted that she would not take her opportunity lightly.

The Education Minister added that lawmakers must understand and accept that voters have considerable expectations for their words to be turned into action and for their vision to become a reality.