The Ministry of Education has endeavoured to reimagine education in the BVI which is in line with their theme for the 2022-2023 school year, “Virgin Islands Education: Moving Full S.T.E.A.M. Ahead.”
Minister for Education Hon. Sharie De Castro at a recent press conference said S.T.E.A.M which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics, “provides a new approach to teaching and focuses on the development of creativity, innovation, critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration and communication” within students and teachers.
She described those skills as being extremely important in the 21st century as she announced plans to have a number of initiatives rolled out in 2023 to follow the success of the Innovation Week event that was held in November 2022.
“Students, teachers, parents and other community members were able to experience what learning through the arts, robotics, engineering and other key areas meant. We look forward to hosting other key activities during the course of the school year, namely the National Science Fair in March. Training sessions have been conducted for teachers and the funding necessary to procure much needed S.T.E.A.M. resources is available,” De Castro stated.
Programme to be rolled out at ESHS
De Castro also provided details on a programme that will be rolled out at the Elmore Stoutt High School early this year.
She said, “A pilot programme, Innovation Hour, will be rolled out at the Elmore Stoutt High School by the end of the first quarter of the year. This programme is intended to expose students to Robotics, Engineering, the Arts, Technology and other tenets of STEAM. Teachers will continue to receive training ahead of the roll out. An Education Officer has been tasked with developing the Ministry’s plan for the full roll out of STEAM along with a comprehensive policy to support it.”
Existing curriculum must be reviewed
The education minister said another priority on her list is the reviewing of the school’s existing curriculum which she said is important to ensure it aligns with the tenets of S.T.E.A.M. education.
“This includes what subjects are offered, what topics are covered and at what developmental stage, which strategies are used and a shift in focus from content knowledge to the application of twenty first century skills. The last curriculum review was done in 2007. Therefore, we are long overdue for a review which will commence this year,” she said.
“Integral to this mandate is the provision of modern and effective resources for Early Childhood, Languages, Mathematics, Science, Technical Subjects, Music, Art, Physical Education and Special Education. This is because as a government we strongly believe that our schools must be fully equipped with the necessary resources to facilitate teaching and learning efficiently. Hence, funding is now available to provide these educational manipulatives and teaching aids for all subject areas. Thus, whether students are kinaesthetic, visual, auditory, social, solitary, verbal or logical learners, our teachers will be equipped with much needed resources to diversify their delivery of instruction to achieve optimal learning,” De Castro further explained.
The minister also updated the public on the Education Act, stating that it is now in its final stages of completion.
“A number of policies such as the Early Childhood Education Policy, the Special Education Policy, Promotion, Placement and Retention Policy, Graduation Requirements, S.T.E.A.M. Policy, a Curriculum Policy, Professional Standards for Educators and an update to the Discipline Policy and Student Code of Conduct are being created or amended to support the transformation of education in the territory,” she said.