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Contact:
Rose Marie Harris
Thursday, April 10, 2003 – The long standing dream of many parents
yearning for the day when the Common Entrance Examinations will no longer be the
“sentence death for their children’s future” will soon be realised. The
Government of Saint Lucia has successfully negotiated a new loan package with
the World Bank for a total of $13.2 million to bring in the reality of universal
secondary education.
The project involves the construction of two new secondary schools at Anse La
Raye and Gros Islet. Each of these schools will have a capacity of seven hundred
students and will reflect the new standards for secondary schools established by
the Ministry of Education. Each will have an auditorium or multi purpose hall,
canteen, computer lab, learning resource centre, science lab, technical
workshop, counselling room and staff room. These developments were announced as
Prime Minister, Honourable Dr. Kenny Anthony delivered his 2003/2004 Budget
Address on Tuesday.
Dr. Anthony made it clear that a study undertaken by the Ministry of Education
revealed the locations where secondary education was most deficient were in Anse
La Raye and Gros Islet. Dennery was another area that the location study showed
was in dire need of additional secondary school places. “We have therefore
decided that the Grande Riviere Senior Primary School in Dennery will be
upgraded to full secondary status. This upgrading will lead to the creation of
an additional 280 places. The rehabilitation and upgrading of the Clendon Mason
Secondary will also yield 150 additional places and new facilities for that
school. A total of 13 existing Secondary Schools will be rehabilitated under
this project,” said Dr. Anthony.
Under this Project attention will also be given to teacher development,
equipping of schools with specialist equipment and establishing an innovation
fund to promote creativity in schools. The curriculum of secondary schools will
be revised with the help of the Caribbean Examinations Council to ensure that
all students follow a core curriculum. It will include English, Mathematics,
Information Technology, a Foreign Language and Integrated Science and will
provide subsequent career opportunities in the humanities, the sciences,
technical areas and the expressive arts for students of different aptitudes.
The project will also include: a new system of continuous assessment at primary
level that will ensure that students are promoted to secondary level when they
are academically ready, the provision of support services to secondary students
(counselling and other welfare support); the provision of literacy and numeracy
support programmes to primary and secondary students; and the establishment of
school development plans
Dr. Anthony described these developments as a new chapter in the history of
education in Saint Lucia. He indicated “The attainment of universal secondary
education is a milestone that signals that a country has reached a particular
threshold in its human resource development and its capacity to develop itself.”
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