The Ministry of Education has officially launched the Programme for Education, Realignment and Transformation (PERT), a major initiative backed by EC$30.4 million in funding from the Government of Saint Lucia, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), and the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), aimed at modernizing the island’s education sector and expanding opportunities for learners.
Speaking at the launch on June 23, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Kendal Khodra, said the programme represents the next phase of a long-term effort to reform education in Saint Lucia.
“PERT did not arrive in a vacuum, rather it is a continuation of a deliberate and strategic process of education reform and development,” Khodra explained. “It builds upon the foundations established through the Education Quality Improvement Project, the EQIP, which we know recently closed. And this project delivered significant gains for our education sector and positioned us to pursue even greater ambitions. PERT represents the next and very critical phase of that work.”
Project Coordinator Callus Monchery highlighted some of the pressing challenges facing the education sector and outlined how the programme intends to address them.
“Saint Lucia’s education system has expanded access and created opportunity for a generation of learners, yet real challenges remain,” Monchery said. “Many of our school buildings are over 40 years old and structural assessments have found some to be unsafe, non-compliant with modern building codes and ill-suited for 21st century teaching and learning.”
He noted that the island’s vulnerability to natural disasters has further exposed weaknesses within the education infrastructure.
“As a nation highly vulnerable to hurricanes, flooding and seismic activities, too many of our schools lack the resilience needed to keep children safe and learning through a crisis,” Monchery stated. “We must also close critical gaps in equity and quality, better facilities and earlier support for students with special education needs, modern labs and industry-standard equipment for our TVET students.”
Education Minister Kenson Casimir described the programme as an investment in the future of Saint Lucia’s children and young people.
“We as a government, we as educators, we as administrators, our number one responsibility is to ensure that we give the next generation this one word, opportunity,” Casimir said.
He stressed that the programme is intended to improve educational access and outcomes across multiple areas of learning.
“Whether it is in youth development and sport, whether it is in education, whether it is in teaching through re-skilling our teachers, this is about opportunity,” the minister said. “Whether it is in early childhood education, that no child is left behind from the earliest onset, whether it is from special education, whether it is TVET education, it is about presenting the next generation, this current generation, future generations, with opportunity.”
The PERT initiative is expected to focus on strengthening educational infrastructure, enhancing resilience to natural disasters, improving support services for students, modernizing technical and vocational education, and ensuring that learners across Saint Lucia have access to a safer and more inclusive learning environment.