The Ministry of Education conducted its annual review on Tuesday, 15th August 2023 at the Teachers’ Resource Centre in The Valley. The exercise was led by the Education Planning Unit (EDU) which has a regulatory and monitoring function for the entire sector – from pre-primary through to higher education. Its head, Education Planner, Mrs. Dawn Reid, laid out the structure for the review which required listing achievements, identifying challenges and sharing plans for the 2023/2024 academic year.
The review was conducted against the backdrop of Anguilla’s Education Development Plan (EDP) 2020-2025 which is informed by UNESCO’s focus on Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education), OECS regional objectives, the Government of Anguilla’s (GOA) national objectives and the Anguillian community’s needs as developed by broad stakeholder consultation.
According to the Chief Education Officer (CEO), Mr. Bren Romney, the Department’s review team was broadened to include members of the various senior management teams (SMTs) at the public primary schools. This was important not only to ensure that the broader team would have the vision of the departmental work plan. It was also vital to ensure that diverse and multi-layered feedback was used to fine-tune and direct the Department of Education’s roadmap.
There were presentations on Secondary Education, Technical and Vocational Education (TVET), Tertiary Education, Assessment, Student Support Services as well as Pre-Primary/Primary and Curriculum delivered respectively by Mrs. Rita Celestine-Carty, Principal of the Albena Lake Hodge Comprehensive School (ALHCS), Mr. Feliciano James, TVET Coordinator, Dr. Kenneth Williams, President, Anguilla Community College, Ms. Deavene Guishard, Education Officer Assessment, Mrs. Tracelyn Hamilton, Education Officer, Multi Professional Support Services and the CEO.
Some recurring challenges that were identified included absenteeism, the performance of boys, management of English as a Second Language students, and discipline and safety but there were also salient successes such as the ongoing teacher in-service training programme for primary school educators, the roll out and strengthening of the School Lunch Programme, the launch of ‘Project Inspire’ Technology Integration in Education at Orealia Kelly Primary School (OKPS), the retrofitting of a Sensory Room at Valley Primary School (VPS) for special education needs (SEN) students and the English as a Second Language (ESL) initiative for students coming in to Anguilla’s education system.
There are also things to look forward to such as the September launch of EMIS (the Education Management Information System) which offers comprehensive student management services and should make data gathering and decision-making much easier, extension of Project Inspire’s technology integration to MVPS, upgrade of internet services and provision of Promethean smart boards in all schools’ IT labs and hiring of an Education Officer for Human Resource Development.
The Honourable Minister of Education, Ms. Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers highlighted the fact that though Anguilla had achieved the recommend ratio of expenditure on education as a proportion of GDP, even more investment was required in the sector for the country as whole to thrive long term. The Minister reminded the educators and administrators present that this would require partnerships and broad-based ‘buy-in’, making it critical that education engage with persons within as well as outside the education sector, to rally support as well as ensure that expectations were in line with the ministry and department’s objectives.
The annual review is just one dimension of the activities that occur as the Department of Education revs up for the launch of the new year.
Phased maintenance work is ongoing at the primary schools, the Teachers Professional Development Week will take place from Monday 21st August to Thursday 24th August 2023 and Planning Week is programmed from the 28th to the 31st of August to culminate in the Welcome Back Ceremony for Educators on September 1st and the launch of the new school year on Monday 4th September 2023.
