Contact: Janelle Charles

November 2, 1998 - A call has been made for more students to specialize in technical and vocational studies especially in the area of technology hardware maintenance. The call came from Senator Calixte George the Chairperson for the Council of Science and Technology for Development which recently convened its inaugural meeting here.

Senator George noted that while St. Lucia is unable to engage in pure scientific research the island must be able to adapt to existing technology.  One way of adapting the Minister noted is by becoming competent in technology hardware maintenance.

But Senator George noted with concern that too few students were taking advantage of educational opportunities in the area of science and technology. "When I look at the scholarships available for skills training at the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College do not get the necessary numbers of people interested, particularly for equipment maintenance. That is why St. Lucia has to use a lot of its foreign exchange on the hardware we keep bringing in," George noted.