 The twinning of the two schools is a continuation of exchanges between schools in St. Lucia with similar institutions in Taiwan. The partnership between the Sufer Comprehensive Secondary School and the Zhen Sheng Junior High of Taiwan will help facilitate cultural exchanges, especially as the Sufer Comprehensive prepares to include the teaching of Mandarin into the school's curriculum. Vice-Principal of the Sufer Comprehensive Secondary School, Crescent Chakambi, says the partnership will be beneficial to Sufer students who will get a better appreciation for the differences in culture as well as the similarities of student life and challenges. Our exchange will commence virtually, testament to changing perspectives that the vastness of the world impedes us. Technology has made this perceived vastness dissipate in the world is a small place. We look forward to the twinning of the schools, albeit fraternal twinning because we do look differently, where respect and appreciation for culture and eventual pedagogical exchange will result in success for both institutions. Ministry of Education officials say the partnership will not only help with the exchange of knowledge but will also assist the two schools in the sharing of best practices in getting the best out of instruction and indeed student development and performance. It is this diversity that will make this partnership exciting and it's going to provide the fodder or the food for discussion, for sharing values, to share differences such as languages, cuisine, the foods are different, I'm sure they are just as delicious, languages, fashion. Possibilities of networking, collaborating, sharing, refining of teaching practices, upskilling, retooling, reforming, to make instruction great from what we would see and learn from more effective schools of international repute. Taiwanese Ambassador to St. Lucia, His Excellency Peter Shen, expressed his country's satisfaction to engage in more areas of cooperation that will indeed benefit both countries. The initiative comes as the Taiwan Embassy recently brought the curtains down on the first phase of its ICT in Education project in St. Lucia, of which the Sufra Comprehensive was a beneficiary. The twin school project will provide students with an understanding of international and cultural differences. Students' curiosity toward their fellow youth may stimulate studying interests to further explore the world. In St. Lucia and in Taiwan, we all try so hard to improve the learning environment because the next generation is our future. Sufra MP and Commerce Minister Honorable Emma Hippolit has embraced the initiative saying that it will ensure a more diversified education and one that will expose students to the experiences of their counterparts in other cultures. The Government Minister asked Sufra Comprehensive students to take advantage of every opportunity created by the School Twin Initiative. What I'm hoping to see is to that cultural exchange, that cultural exchange as we said so that as a parliamentary rep, I'm hoping to see some of your students here in the school at a particular time and some of our students over on the other side. What is going to make me extremely happy is for us to have one of these sessions in mind. Yes, yes and that is what this twin is all about. In order to better equip the next generation to take on difficulties posed by globalization, the Taiwanese Embassy in St. Lucia, a bird from its ICT in Education Project, has also launched the Mandarin Pilot Project, the Taiwan Scholarship Program, and the You and Women Economy Development Project. From the Communications Unit of the Ministry of Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training, I am Chris Satney, reporting.