Premier and Minister of Finance, Honourable Andrew A. Fahie chaired the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the University of the West Indies (UWI) Development Partner Forum.

It is  indeed my pleasure to warmly welcome you to today’s Development Partner Forum that has brought us together for dialogue and partnership under the theme, ‘Investing in Higher Education to Build More Diversified and Resilient Post-COVID Economies in the Caribbean.’ 

Virgin Islanders who wish to study in other countries for the 2021/2022 academic school year are invited to apply for the distinguished Virgin Islands Scholarship Abroad Programme through the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth Affairs, Fisheries and Agriculture.

The public is notified that Reading is Fun Week will be observed from October 11 to 17 under the theme, “Read Empower”.  The schedule of activities for the week is as follows:

Any person who puts a book in the hands of a young child, is a person who is confident that the child will change the future.  “To read is to empower, to empower is to write, to write is to influence, to influence is to change, to change is to live.” –unknown

Deputy Premier and Minister for Education, Culture, Youth Affairs, Fisheries and Agriculture, Dr. the Honourable Natalio Wheatley has said that reading and critical analysis play an important role in preparing the Territory’s students to face the future.

Today, I am pleased to present to you a synopsis of the Territory’s performance in the 2020 CXC Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations and CXC Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE). Given the fluid nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and its implications, our students persevered through many psychological, social and emotional challenges. This pandemic forced our students to deal with great uncertainty, adapt to new learning conditions and adopt new studying practices.

Mr. Speaker, it is my duty to update the people of the Virgin Islands on the phased reopening of schools.  During my statement on the reopening of schools on Tuesday, 25th August, 2020, I announced that our phased plan to reopen schools was derailed due to a spike in Covid-19 cases in the Territory.  I also stated that this decision would be reviewed in the weeks that followed.  Since then we have had dozens of active cases.  Through the leadership of the Minister of Health and the HEOC team and the cooperation of the public, we have been able to contain this latest outbreak of the Corona Virus, and for this we give all thanks to God!  But we are not out of the woods yet, and, Mr. Speaker, I encourage everyone to remain vigilant and adhere to the various health and social distancing guidelines as we continue in our efforts to combat the virus.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth Affairs, Fisheries and Agriculture will be administering the next sitting of SATs on Saturday, December 5.  

Public schools across the Territory will officially commence on Monday, September 21 with all classes being solely online.