Message from the Permanent Secretary- Mrs. Morine Williams
The Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines continues to invest annually between 17-20% of its budgetary allocation to education. This substantial investment in education is hoped to provide greater access to all learners, across the different sectors from early childhood to adult education.
It is our aim to develop our islands’ human resources, through the sustainable provision of quality learning opportunities for all, in order to equip our people with the required values, attitudes, levels of skills and knowledge necessary for creating and maintaining a productive, innovative and harmonious society.
The improvement of learning outcomes has been a priority area for the Ministry of Education, National Reconciliation and Ecclesiastical Affairs and will continue to be given priority in 2017. The Ministry will also continue to deliver education reforms in five core areas that evidence shows will lead to better outcomes: quality teaching, quality learning, empowered school leadership, meeting students’ needs, greater transparency and accountability. The Ministry will also focus on improving the performance of students at all levels, including targeted groups, with a particular emphasis on students from disadvantaged backgrounds in 2017.
The collection of quantitative data cannot be over stated. It is an imperative to inform local policies, forms the basis for comparative analysis with our neighbouring sister states in the OECS Digest, and the monitoring of the progress made in the implementation of the OECS Education Sector Strategy (OESS), while the Global Monitoring Report provides an international comparison. Our analysis of the data also guides donors and bilateral partners as to the extent of or impact of interventions previously undertaken, determine the best course of action and seek to continuously adhere to evidenced based decision making manner of operation.