A pleasant good morning to all. The completion of the ESHS Redevelopment project, signifies a major investment in the infrastructure that supports education in the Virgin Islands. After 5 school years and one term, the full complement of staff and students of the Elmore Stoutt High School finally returned to the same campus, for full day school for the first time since the storms of 2017. In this moment, at this time, the gratitude and pride that I feel as an alumna, former teacher, now Minister, is unexplainable.

The public is informed that the office of the Ministry of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports will close at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, December 16.

The H. Lavity Stoutt Community College (HLSCC) has signed a Statement of Shared Interest agreement with the Stella and Charles Guttman Community College at the City University of New York to promote collaborative academic opportunities between the innovative institutions.

Pictured are Members of the Virgin Islands Youth Parliament (VIYP) Mr. Stephon Mactavious and Ms. Donyelle Hodge and Chairman of the VIYP Honourable Sharie B. de Castro attending the formal opening of the 11^th Commonwealth Youth Parliament today 21 November, 2022.

Madam Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to update this Honourable House and the entire territory about the Ministry’s commitment to continuous professional development for educators to support the development of skills, the expansion of knowledge and the efficacy of instruction. The theme for the 2022-2023 school year is “Virgin Islands Education: Moving Full S.T.E.A.M. Ahead.”

Madam Speaker, PowerSchool is the Student Information System used by the Ministry of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports to digitize and store students’ data. PowerSchool is an internet-based student information system that is used in our public schools.  It functions either independently or with other computer applications to provide educators with robust tools for viewing, storing, and retrieving students’ data.

Madam Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to update this Honourable House and this Community on Innovation Week 2022.  The Ministry of Education, Youth Affairs, and Sports is committed to redesigning and reimagining the concept of education to meet the needs of diverse students in our classrooms and schools.

Registration for the Government’s new temporary employment relief and skills development programme, the Registration Apprenticeship Training Employment and Development (RATED) Programme begins tomorrow, Friday 4^th November 2022.

The Ministry of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports is now accepting scholarship applications for the 2023/2024 academic year.   

Public School Teachers were pleasantly surprised today by the sweet gesture from Minister for Education, Youth Affairs and Sports Honourable Sharie de Castro, as the Virgin Islands joined the rest of the world in celebration of World Teachers’ Day.