 network. I'm Ryan O'Brien with me today once more. It's my co-host Lisa Joseph and we will replace our special segment this morning when we look at some of the major stories that we brought you over the last week and as you know certainly one of the major events over the past week was the advent of Tropical Storm Doria that passed through actually we saw that I think it was a glance. Yes and we are with us the acting director of the National Emergency Management Organization NEMO, the historian Gustav Misko. Gustav, welcome to you in focus. Thank you and thanks for having me. Well I think this is actually your full sojourner actually into the role and to actively get involved with an event like this the Tropical Storm passing and maybe you would first of all like to tell us a bit more on the real roles NEMO and NEMAC as maybe solutions would get greater clarity as to the functions of these two organizations. Certainly so NEMO we look at NEMO the secretariat which is the administrative arm of NEMO that is located at Bizi in Castries and it is staffed by a director, deputy director, training officer, a communications manager, secretary, administrative secretary, a driver and also we have a telecoms person who is on contract. This is basically the administrative arm of NEMO. However NEMO, the broader organization is made up of a number of other agencies such as the Met Office, GIS of course, Ministry of Education, all PSIs are part of this organization, Ministry of Equity, the critical infrastructure agencies such as Lusilek, Wasco, Flow, Digicel, Chamber of Commerce, SLHTA and the list goes on. All of those form NEMO. So when you hear NEMO it is not the secretariat when it comes to an activation for an event, a hazard that is approaching and so on. Okay well with that definition maybe you can look at some of the standard operating procedures of NEMO and there were a number of concepts that came into greater focus when it has been around for some time but at this point in time maybe it's a good opportunity to tell us a bit about the shutdown as a definition and subsequently to that and all clear. Okay so the shutdown is outlined in our standard operating procedure volume four where the NEMAC which is the National Emergency Management Advisory Committee that the Prime Minister heads meet for pre-strike meeting. At this meeting we will on the advice of the Met Service Met's office the Prime Minister and the body will determine a time that is more suitable and this is because it is intended that lives are preserved. NEMO is all about security and safety of the nation so at this meeting based on the severity and how close the event is the hazard then a determination is made and in the last instance you saw that the six o'clock was the shutdown time for the country. Shutdown means that all services every business house every service place comes to an end no one is expected to be out there and that includes hotel workers, supermarket workers, anywhere that you work you that is supposed to come to an end. But then I think to that for the public hazard way it gets a little confusing more key if you will like it has been for a number of years now because you mentioned the hotel workers but you have sectors where continuous service is expected so for like a hotel for example the guests they need to be served the hotel must be up and functioning somebody has to see over the well-being of the guests so what exactly is the understanding between the hotel sector and NEMO NEMAC or the understanding of how these things function is it that the workers who are there are to up and leave or is there a policy or that is activated that maintains service at the same time keeping the workers safe. Okay the hotel sector through SLHT there is an understanding that their emergency plan kicks into place come into place when a shutdown is given or an impending hazard so the hotel is supposed to ensure that when there is a hazard and a shutdown has been given their plans will determine how they operate from there so the owners is on the hotel to determine how the staff movement takes place so they determine if the staff that are there are supposed to remain until the oil clear has been given so that is what is in place for a hotel so we heard persons call during the storm and say that I'm on my way to work I work at the hotel I'm supposed to show up and we don't support that at all so we're asking the hotels to ensure that your emergency plans are in place in the event of search hazards. What is the level of discussion for example the pre-strike meeting some of the you mentioned wasco loose lecanto forth forming part of that broader umbrella of NEMO the private sector where does it fall in the mix of things and what is the level of consultation with the private sector at the pre-strike meeting okay so the private sector is represented through the chamber of commerce and they were there at the pre-strike meeting they will number of points clarified at this point what it does it mean a six o'clock shutdown mean and the owners now is on the business places to determine if the shutdown is at six o'clock what time do I close my business to allow my staff enough time those who have to take the bus to get to the bus and to get out of the area where they are to get to home so all of these things must be determined by the business places once the shutdown time has been given so for instance yesterday the bvi was on the threat the pre-strike meeting took place at 11 o'clock the shutdown was at 230 that does not leave much time but that is the shutdown time and persons have to ensure that they get out of harm's way and that is to preserve lives not just because we want to pull it out there and just say it's we shut down at six o'clock a lot of things are taken into consideration when a time is given for six o'clock the bvi was not expecting the storm to come the way because of the trajectory you're right so it turned and they had to move and there are instances when we have to do the same you know but the six o'clock time that we gave it was based on the prediction of the med services okay so I just wanted to ask a follow-up to that does it mean that everyone should be cleared out of the streets we should have a virtual ghost town at six o'clock that is exactly what it means everyone should be cleared out and if that doesn't happen what happens you put the emergency workers lives at risk if the impact is severe if you say the shutdown is at six you can't expect people to be off the streets at six the shut they have to be off the street off the streets at six the shutdown no the shutdown is at six six p.m you have to be off the streets at six p.m that's what it means it's not to be labeled a point but I think for that because the public wants a better understanding of what do I do you had business places that decided well shutdown is at six o'clock we shut in our doors at five thirty does that leave the staff enough time to get home it does not leave the staff enough time so all of that must be taken into consideration how much time do I need to give my staff to get home to get get off the streets you are not supposed to be on the streets at six o'clock we should be having some issues as well with the shutdown and the all-clear when persons seem to venture out okay okay how now is the all-clear determined I know there's certainly most of the interaction with all the parties first of all to determine the shutdown and the all-clear time tell us about that and how it is actually arrived at okay the again the Met Office will instruct us of when we are no longer on the threat of the storm or the hazard this information comes to the to NIMU the Capsic has been part of the head of NIMU gets that information along with the director of NIMU when this information reaches us there are number of things that have to happen in order for us to give the all-clear at this point our first responders will be called to go out there they have to ensure that the conditions are safe for the residents to be our day and sure that the there are no down power lines that the roads are possible there are nothing that is prohibiting persons from traversing and getting to from one point to the next when we get the report from our first responder that everything is in place and there is they are not putting the public in harm's way then we will give an all-clear so that persons can go out there in terms of communication actually during the event of a storm or hurricane or any other natural disaster your organization and well so let's say NIMU but NIMU when it's in full operation during a disaster yes there are certain areas of communication that the public sometimes expect and there were certain concerns about what that level of communication was and how your communication processes would have been activated during the event could you tell us what are the formalities and what solutions can actually look forward to and what would the main sources be okay so once the shutdown has taken place the national emergency management sorry the NEOC which is the national emergency operations center is activated at this point we are at NIMU's headquarters which is where the center is and information is shared as they become available when you get an update from the Met Office that is NIMU so to say that you're not getting information from NIMU it's wrong because the Met Office is part of NIMU right when you get information so the information gets from the National Hurricane Center in the US which is where we get our information from to the Met Office the Met Office now informs NIMU the NEOC at this point and the information is put out there through GIS GIS as like I indicated is part of NIMU so NIMU GIS would update our page our facebook page with information we also use the cap dot cap app which is given a alert as it becomes available our website also we try our best to update as the information becomes available also we at the NEOC we are in touch with regional international agencies who would want updates and so on so a lot is going on when we are at the NEOC so it is not like we're just sitting there waiting for updates so whilst we wait a lot is happening we work all night sometimes non-stop so that is why we have a shift system a 12 hour shift system and sometimes depending on the severity of the storm or the hazard we cannot get the next group to come in so you continue so a lot is going on and as the information becomes available and when the need to for the director to put out information we do so we put out all of the information that the public is getting is actually coming from NIMU and just to expand on that because a lot of people calling for and wondering why NTN for example wasn't on air wasn't given out the information GIS slash NTN is stationed right there so we had a crew from the 6 p.m. right through to next morning with another crew to release that's right but in addition it's not just about the the communications aspect goes beyond just posting on the websites and so forth because the information is sent I know from the GIS crew we now email all of the media houses it used to be a situation and I could speak to that most and I'm sure Ryan can bear me out on this in the private media where I'm from and I spent like 20 years there over time once the private media built its capacity you found that the role that the GIS was playing became more minimalized because then the media houses wanted to take over and to show their chops if you will so that information is simply being sent to the media houses via the email there's a platform that the GIS uses that all media houses can access where we post audio bytes video bytes emails go in their statements go there and it is now for the radio stations and the TV stations to access that platform and they have their own presenters to give that information so it used to be a case where you would find perhaps the crew station there the information person stationed before the advent of all of the internet and so forth they would physically call the radio station and give out the information but as I said the media houses now because now they're more competitive everybody wants to show what they can do and so for their own ratings and so forth and so you simply now become the facilitator of the information and we are no longer the presenters of that information so maybe now and I did hear the Prime Minister say that they're going to revisit that that perhaps now the NTN should step in and be more than just a facilitator we should now actually present that information I guess that's what the public is asking for now is NTN but NTN is there exactly they do not understand maybe silent but we are the ones facilitating all of that information that's right so for example when you had the TV station on and I want to say kudos to Jade Brown and Yardie for a wonderful job over at NBC it but all of that information that they will feed in quite apart from the telephone calls from residents came from the GIS and Nemo that's right so we it is us it's a situation where we're not fighting with each other and the GIS understands its role and for the GIS as I came to find out once I started working here it does not operate like the private media and so sometimes people get impatient I think I certainly was impatient when I first came to the GIS because I'm from a it's a whole different kettle of fish but the GIS operates under particular rules that private media doesn't have to operate I believe too the sensitization of the public is important help them understand the system how it works and I think today we're doing our best to do that to understand the new system and if they have that information then you will you they will understand that the information that they're receiving is actually from Nemo through GIS you know and you say yes yes because I'm really happy that you're able to clarify that and something we want pains to to ensure that it this actually came out on this program and we could just make it simple by letting persons know that actually the national television network is very much submerged within the government information service and it's basically a channel to which the government gets most of its television programming out and not the typical television station that we know quote unquote basically yes yes basically a channel yeah what what I wanted to put out there also is that the GIS is the head of the communications arm of Nemo so once there is the shutdown and we're in emergency mode we it is activated right and like we said all of the information is filtered through GIS to the order stations okay we want to give an opportunity to maybe just get a couple calls and maybe any messages on facebook so we invite you or viewers you can public call us we will get our number on the screen so make it easier for you and also you can send us some questions via facebook from Ms Dorian Gustav she's the acting director of Nemo so certainly a very eventful first outing for you Ms Gustav the season is is very much in the interim as it says in the real active period we are expecting that it's going to get a bit more active as goes on the end of august into early september and i'm sure that this last event of Dorian will be able to really test you as such and see how all your systems are functioning and how well we did following the last system okay so we did well uh based on reports from our partners city city more certainly um our reporting to them post strike and and pre reporting um we got good commendations from city mall we got good commendations from our order partner agencies so i think our systems were in place and they did work we want to say to you that the time with Ms Gustav is limited because we do have coming up next the minister for education innovation gender relations as a single development so we are asking that you can call with your questions your comments right now on this segment dealing with are the post tropical storm Dorian that telephone number is 4682162 that's 4682162 we are also taking your comments questions on facebook if you want to send that in right now i wanted to ask about the disaster the district disaster preparedness committees okay there's some concern that perhaps all are not functioning and that is correct uh what we've done is that we have started putting plans in place to meet with all of our district disaster committees as a body and those that are not active um some of them are due for elections we are putting a schedule in place to have those elections and to do the training with our district disaster committees to ensure that they are visible on the ground that is one of my you know one of your your products that happens but let's go to the telephone lines thank you so much you in focus with us hi good morning good morning to make it more effective and the question i was going to ask was just exactly what you commented on every son so um like that's very important but those people in the communities that they know that people live and they will be able to find them before after a disaster thank you so much for your question but you are going to expand on the disaster preparedness committees when i first took office january 15 this year we're coming from equity i understood the rules i understand the role of the district disaster committee because we work with this district disaster committee we actually facilitate the the election of these committees at equity and so i understood the role that they play in mitigation in information sharing in at the community level which is very critical to the functioning or the efficiency of nimu so once you have this district disaster committee in place and functioning you know that your system is strong and this is close to my heart in ensuring that all of this all of the committees are in place and are functioning equipped also but of course so we are working um you know assiduously to ensure that all of the systems are in place and we are working throughout the night in contact with our district disaster committees we have a face um a whatsapp group that they send the messages into us um during the event you know prior to the event after the event we got um updates from them let's talk about the shelters for one and what is the procedure there should do people go to shelters before during or after eventuality so what we have are secondary shelters in st lusia but if there is a need so ancillary for instance is a low-lying area the district disaster committee contacted nimu and said that we need to open two shelters right and um we a lot we asked them to because there are measures to put in place we have to ensure that there is a medical personnel maybe a nurse and security and of course there is food for the persons at the shelter so these things have to be done at least in advance a few hours in advance so we can put all of this in place so that the shelters can be open right so like i said if there is a need we allow the shelters to be open before a hazard but you need to have that notification in order to be able to actively to have it open and so on yes so and that goes through so someone in a vulnerable community like an ancillary if i'm at the place and i know for sure that the flood will come into my house that's right do i now contact the disaster preparedness committee that chairperson someone in that committee yes and they take it from there yes they do in instances where the district disaster committee and that should not be they should be aware of everywhere our vulnerable persons are living those with disability and and that is big for us at nimu right now we are discussing persons with disability and include them in our early warning system so um moving forward we must ensure that our early warning systems are working we have flood early warning systems in four communities in st luccia in ancillary cannery's dennery and masher dennery we're trying to upgrade to a multi hazard early warning system and for the dvrp we are trying to get a siren system which will complete it make it that multi hazard early warning system so we have to ensure that all of our early warning systems include persons with disabilities the herring impaired the visually impaired um those who can't make their own way and so on so including them in our plans well post event looking at if the country has suffered any particular damage is it mandatory that these shelters be open or is it only activated based on the need it is activated based on the need okay so that's quite an interesting aspect for our viewers who are actually following this program this morning to actually know the protocols as it as it relates to emergency shelters and what they should do and that they shouldn't really try to venture out during the event but maybe give the adequate um notice that they'll be looking for the shelter and how they proceed following the event and miss kustav has really been a great pleasure having you this morning we we know that your office remains very vigilant at this particular point in time and we are happy that you're able to make some time to be here for this morning to at least enlighten the sedition public as to their own responsibility how they can respond when these advisories are given and how they need to follow whenever the country is in any imminent danger of an event that nature provides us with and we are happy that you're able to be here for us this morning thanks once more for being in focus this morning it was my pleasure and thanks for having me thank you so much we'll take our first break on our program this morning but we'll be back in just a moment you a point less in tsunami The world's climate is changing and that affects all of us. Storms are becoming increasingly intense, periods of intense drought and heavy rain stress farm animals and destroy our crops. Higher average ocean temperatures kill our coral reefs and change the migratory patterns of fish. Inglusha contributes only 0.0015% of global greenhouse gas emissions but is doing its part along with countries around the world to reduce the emissions that are warming our world and changing our climate. These efforts are called mitigation. But decades of emissions have already changed the climate and the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere today will increase average global temperatures even more. We need to adapt, that is, do everything we can to prepare for and respond to the actual and expected negative effects of climate change and everyone has a role to play. We need to protect our crops, build homes that withstand storms and keep our drains and waterways free of garbage to help us recover or bounce back from climatic events. Learn more about the Government of St. Lucia's National Adaptation Plan and the steps you can take to protect yourself and your fellow St. Lucians. Thanks for staying in focus, we are keeping it very sharp today and Lisa is going to introduce our next guest. It's always a pleasure for me to do that. Dr. Gil Rigobert is someone that I have absolute admiration for, apart from the fact that she taught me, learns a lot from her and she's one of the individuals that has formed up over men in St. Lucia. Thank you so much for the work that you're doing, that you're putting in because I know every time I see you, I always need to talk about what's happening in the ministry. You may be off to some meeting somewhere, but the focal point is always for the development of our education sector. The minister with responsibility for education, innovation, and we'll talk about that quite a bit today, innovation, gender relations and sustainable development. We are very much the eve of the opening of the new academic year and I know this is always a time that perhaps is not just busy, but even worrying for the ministry and for yourself. So much to do and let's go to the heart of where we need to be, schools, the school plans. I know that monies were set aside, we're looking at a $10 million investment in getting schools upgraded, but each year it would seem that it becomes a little bit more difficult and to even meet what those needs are and to do it in a timely fashion. Give us a sense of where we are at this year with the preparedness of our schools for the opening of the classrooms on Monday. Thank you Lisa, thank you so much for having me, it's a pleasure to be here with you to this morning and thank you for your very gracious comments. Very true. It is indeed the eve of the opening of school and admittedly that comes with some anxiety because there is so much to be done, whereas we have received for the second year now $10 million for capital works or school rehabilitation. We must never forget that although that represents a more than nine or roughly $9 million increase from what the sector was accustomed to, I had received previously, it still represents a mere quarter of what is required to bring all schools up to some decent habitable aesthetically pleasing level. And so sometimes you feel like a hamster on a treadmill that you're exerting a lot of effort, doing a lot, but amounts to just so little because there is still so much to be done precisely because of what we inherited. I can tell you my first walk about May weeks after assuming this office in June of 2016, I was gutted. I recall most vividly my visit to South Lewis Community College for example and being treated with visible evidence of what mold and mildew can do and what physical deterioration means for the operations of a school plant. And I must say no sooner had I reported that back to Cabinet and to our Prime Minister, he was immediately moved and compelled to make a further investment in the education sector. Understandably, it means that we have to effect a work program amounting to $10 million over the fiscal year and most of that work is done during the summer because it is the longest school break, but just that the public knows work does continue through the Christmas and Easter breaks for example. This year, we did a lot of work during the Easter on our technical drawing labs which were converted to smart classrooms because the CXC syllabus with respect to technical drawing had now gone digital. So it became necessary for us to execute that work during the Easter break and that kind of intervention continues through the calendar and fiscal year, throughout the calendar and fiscal year because there are other classrooms that require that ongoing attention. We have remained true to ensuring that no child will be left behind and whereas the issue regarding the deplorable condition of schools and the kind of work that is necessary to rehabilitate schools would often make the news, I really want for us to focus on the comprehensive and holistic intervention that we've been making in the education sector. It is all well and good for us to have very comfortable buildings, but equally we recognize the need for continuous training and development of our teachers or educators. I must say it pleased me greatly a couple of weeks ago to wish the cohort of students who are embarking on various levels of studies to wish them well. And for me, it meant that we were breathing true meaning into promises that had been made but more importantly answering to the needs of the sector and you will have noticed or you would have noticed that among those heading out to study are persons specializing in curriculum development. We've heard so much about the need to revamp the curriculum. Well, we need architects, people who are schooled and skilled in curriculum development and revamping. So I was happy to note that there are people who are pursuing this. Similarly, teachers who deal with exceptional learners, we have often lamented that our education system appears to cater for the fat middle. So just the normal, easy going child. If you need an understanding, take the test and score high. But what if you are superlatively talented? What if you are deemed to have a learning challenge? Or what if you are autistic, but very skilled? And our focus on exceptional learners, therefore, is critical. Because increasingly, thanks to our own social evolution as a people, we recognize it is not that they're troublesome or ill-mannered or have a problem. We are responsible for catering for those students as well, notwithstanding their challenge, be it physical or some other emotional or behavioral condition. So that means a lot to us. So there's the physical plant. There's the training and education of our teachers ongoing, might I add. And I want to applaud the team that has championed the Summer Institute. We have, for two consecutive summers now, trained hundreds of teachers and principals in various areas. I recall that last year, the theme was really change in mindset, which is very important. This immediate past summer, there was some focus on positive discipline intervention, which you know is quite topical. Things like engaging with social media or public relations and marketing. Because too very often, our schools are thrust into the spotlight, either at common entrance or when something not so savory happens. And so we are positioning them to be better able to tell their good news, whether it be sports, creative arts, just the very extraordinary things that schools do and we just don't know. So the training covers a whole host of areas. And every summer, we will focus on different areas. The ongoing training of teachers with respect to ICT integration. So you will recall all of the hullabaloo about the laptop program and the United Workers Party. This administration has remained adamant and true to its word that to equip a student with the technological artifact, the tool is grossly insufficient. That we felt compelled and we feel very strongly that students and teachers have to be better equipped to maximize that which the tool can do. And to do that, therefore, we have introduced a couple courses that are geared towards enhancing the digital competency of students so that they can maximize, they can leverage the use of the tool which is the laptop computer or smart device in their hand. But some would argue they do not have it. They do not personally possess one. How then can they maximize the opportunity? That is why on the back end, we have collaborated with the Taiwanese and with the OAS. The OAS program is called a Profitura program and the Taiwanese is ICT in Education program that both programs are geared towards creating more smart classrooms. So we will not limit access to one form, one grade or class. The intention is for the entire school over time to have access to equipment and that is the difference in approach that we recognize. Why give it to a particular form and disadvantage the others is that the younger ones have no use for that kind of equipment. Is that all the ones you wait till you hit the job market to buy your own? So as part of our virtual education initiative or e-education drive, the intention is to ensure that more classrooms in more schools have computers or laptops so that more students can access those tools. The goal is really to ensure over time that we can boast that every classroom is a smart classroom that will not happen overnight and that is why I am especially grateful to the OAS for their partnership on the Profitura program. We have in the pilot about five or six schools in the first instance. Similarly the ICT in Education initiative with the Taiwanese, several other schools will benefit. Thanks to the Commonwealth of Learning and the Global Partnership for Education and the OAS as well we will continue to train teachers because it's almost as if the teachers are trying to keep up with the students nowadays because the students can navigate the technology very comfortably especially for recreational purposes and that's the distinction we can make. We say very casually, oh all the children can use the technology but it's to do what with and how do they use it. I can say to you we are in the final days of of a summer camp that I hosted in Miku North and whereas it is largely true that children can interact with the technology for recreational purposes that skill is not there for productive purposes and therefore we are very clear about the need for an intervention and to not simply assume that they know how to use it. We want to just do basic research, give them a project on how to do the research, how to filter the information, what are you getting, how do you determine what is factual, what is not. You're absolutely correct. So if you think of it as an ecosystem so we have physical plant rehabilitation, we have teacher training and professional development, we've got the e-education initiative that is three pronged. One is that teachers are schooled or trained to better integrate ICTs in the delivery of their program, two that recreate more hardware in school and thirdly that you expand bandwidth or Wi-Fi access. So all of these come together very beautifully to really prop up our e-education initiative in schools. But as that program is being developed how decentralized is it and it's just a few schools that are there. That's a very good question. As a very good sovereign I always emphasize decentralization. So we ensure that there's good geographic spread that we always endeavor to have a school or two on the west coast and this south on the east coast and in the north. We are very very mindful of that and also we are very mindful to involve different age groups. What we have going on as well with respect to our e-education initiative is increased activity and teaching with respect to robotics, artificial intelligence and that that suite of endeavors or subject areas. Why I am so excited about this and I really want to thank USAID for partnering with us in the first pilot which will be expanded this time around is that we were deliberate in choosing schools that we would not think of ordinarily as our top performing schools. And what has been very telling through this pilot or this experiment is that when kids find something they like, when they find the thing they excel at it. So you have schools like the Groveria School and the Boca School just shining brightly in that arena just taking charge of this robotics thing and then going with it and the level of interest you'd be surprised apart from the manifest function which is to learn how to code and to the robotics etc. The latent gains include increased attendance. So students who perhaps would have been inclined to stay home because they're not so interested in our fantastic universal one size fits all curriculum. They now have something they're excited about and that can lure them to the school and in each of our pilot schools the teachers and coaches have reported that not only do students come to school earlier they stay on longer as well because they found their they found their thing is something that interests them. So we're doing that as well and I want to thank USAID for for their partnership in that area. We are also retrofitting some classrooms you notice that I reference the technical drawing collabs that was of necessity again to meet the emerging demands of that curriculum and the changes in that curriculum but we will be doing so in other classrooms as well. You notice all of these things happening in tandem is what is creating the turnaround in the sector. I could almost physically feel things turning around we're turning the corner. It took a lot of tweaking in various areas but it's it's becoming it's it's really coming together beautifully. So one of your stakeholders the teachers are engaging the principals of administrative staff because turning that corner requires that buying from all of these agencies and parents as well let's not forget them from that equation. So how have you been able to engender that sort of partnership? I mean no harm insult or injury by making the reference I'm about to. I remember one of my early meetings with the principals when I spoke of the education and that being a top priority of this minister and this administration we were in the finance building just across the street and when I had pronounced on it and spoken about how important it was you could hear the silence in the room and I literally had to say you can breathe now it's going to be okay. I'm not just coming here with an e-education agenda and we'll leave you alone and having to fend for yourselves and swim through the angry technological waters now. We will ensure that we put things in place that you receive the requisite training that we get the hardware equipment etc and I can say three years on when I look at the number of teachers who've been trained who are embracing the technology who are infusing the technology in their classrooms I'm encouraged by this admittedly I wish it could be it could happen quicker. I referenced the CASTID project which is critical to expanding bandwidth in schools and I wish it had happened at the pace that I wanted it to but we've had some incremental a positive movement and and so it's not so scary anymore because on that day I remember saying to them we're going to marry personalities from the old paradigm with the new paradigm so technology may not be your thing but do not allow your technophobia to retard the entire school or to impact negatively on the development of the children we're responsible for. Partner with a teacher who's more au courant with it who's more comfortable with it and and then everybody can benefit you know I I often believe you know when the tide rises all ships rise so let us not be held hostage by our technophobia but rather confess to it and then that helps as well you can confess it and say well it's not my thing that looks for my students to be exposed to it can I partner with another teacher in some schools there is an IT teacher but I want to be very clear the infusion of ICTs in education is not limited to taking an IT course it is that the technology undergirds all of the activity around learning and teaching and and that that's the ambition and that therefore is very true to a promise that we made in our manifesto very true to what is contained within our own strategic plan in the ministry as well which expires very shortly so we will be lobbying development partners to finance the the new strategic plan for for the ministry even as you move into what developing the smart classrooms the e-education we are still having the situation where students are moving through the system and they're reading and writing ability it is way below what is expected I think just after the CXC is coming some people are complaining that you know their students when you look at the work it's like they are at the infancy level how do we begin to how are you addressing that situation that we're not just simply pushing students through the system just because they have to go through the system I'm happy you raised this and I often say to my colleagues if you're suffering from particular ailments and you go to the doctor and hide your symptoms or lie about your symptoms inevitably the prescription will be off so we have to be true about the shortcomings in the sector and to be more proactive to either avert or cure those shortcomings with respect to those students who are not at the level expected throughout their progression in the system you will recall that we have the minimum standard exam or test at grades two and four for example and these are meant to be diagnostic tests the jury is still out there trying to determine the extent to which the MST has lived through to the intention of its architects to the extent that it has become another exam and not all schools do the diagnostic assessment and or analysis rather and therefore are not well positioned to do the intervention or remedial work required the jury is still out on that some schools do it very well others need to benefit from some chaperoning to get it right however you are correct to the extent that there are students who move through the system and still suffer some kind of literacy and numeracy handicap what we have done like to emphasize what we're doing so we recognize that therefore at the secondary school level as part of our special education program some secondary schools have mastered the art of catering for those students let us not get into the debate about how did it how did they come this far not knowing or not having those skills instead let us applaud those secondary schools that cater for those students and try to bring them up to that competency level that is expected at their given age moreover this year we're doing something new and that is we've partnered with care to embrace some of the students who did not perform at the expected level at the common entrance exam and we are subsidizing these students attendance at care because in your case a private institution and there is a tuition fee so I really want to thank care doctor Mason and her team for that collaboration it is a pilot let's see how it works it is also voluntary so parents had to agree that instead of just passing their students on to the secondary school and maybe getting lost in there for another five years that they would instead channel their students or children through the care program which is you know more interactive more one-on-one and does have a very well tailored program for those kinds of students and I pray that that experiment works really really well we are in terms of what we're doing to correct the literacy and numeracy challenge recognizing the perennial problem we have with mathematics beginning this academic year we have what we call a numeracy hour so what we've done over the summer is to engage the top mathematics teachers on island to put together a very good program of intervention or a medial intervention and students who believe that they are weak in mathematics will be exposed to that particular kind of delivery of the subject so as to enhance their competency in mathematics long before the right the CX exam again that's a very tangible material intervention on our part and I really want to thank the mathematics teachers and coaches who have voluntarily participated in the program in terms of writing the curriculum the lesson plans and that will be leveraged across the country because the question always has been why is it some teachers schools or classes do so well in particular subjects and other schools or classes not so well so we've taken the best minds from around the country on the subject matter the best techniques and we package those and we're going to leverage those around the country okay yeah it's gonna be just time for our next break on our program we'll be back with the minister Dr. Gil Rega but thanks Ryan life is in you the gift of life is in me rich supply for life that flows and helps us to survive without it I am dying without it I am dying you share it I am let me down thanks for staying in focus we are back on our program and we will continue Dr. Rega but something that's really a novelty for Saint Lucia and I'm sure a lot of their sports people are very very eager to see what will happen with the Saint Lucia Sports Academy you know recently the president of FIFA actually came to Saint Lucia and one of his stops was at the academy because FIFA has some involvement in it tell us a bit more about it what can Saint Lucia's expect what's the concept behind the sports academy thank you Ryan I know that one is very close to your heart so there's no there's no surprise that you're inquiring and thanks for the opportunity to speak about it you and I for a long time have heard the lamentations that the universal curriculum delivered at the secondary school is not cater for students who are skilled in sports so creative arts or have some other kind of proclivity or interest and therefore an assuming office one of the things we were very very adamant about is that what more can we do to allow multiple alternative pathways for professional development for students who don't want to become accountants nurses doctors teachers what more can we offer and also we have had a very good stint as a country with respect to the performance of our athletes on the international stage so sports has been very very topical every month there's a good news story regarding the performance of our young people on the international stage and in some cases on the regional stage as well it made perfect sense therefore that within the context of curriculum review within the context of offering specializations that we consider what we call centers of excellence prior to my assuming this office I would have heard for example of the Garivier secondary school being airmarked to become a center of excellence for agriculture partly because of its proximity to the south eluist community college farm also been in the heart of one of our major farming belts so to speak and we thought and what other centers of excellence could we contemplate naturally sports was one of them and the other was creative arts and industry I don't have to rehash the kind of talent we have a residential creative sector with respect to sports that ambition dovetail beautifully with a prime minister and this administration's vision to reshape to refocus and reposition the sporting sector in total and that holistic ambition when beyond rehabilitating fields goes beyond building new sporting facilities but very importantly includes providing professional training for our young athletes and that is where we came in as the ministry of education we recognize whatever your sport and interest you must develop some kind of core competency in English mathematics maybe some science subjects public speaking etc and and it was over two years ago I think now time seems to go by so quickly maybe a little under two years ago we held the first consultation at the grossly secondary school wide grossly secondary school one its proximity to other sporting facilities the Darren Sammy grounds the the the table tennis or tennis center the aquatic center but also grossly had additional benefits which include that the the compound still had a lot of unused land and therefore expansion for dormitories gym kitchens etc the space was there and the school itself had demonstrated a keen interest in the sporting development of its own students the school benefits from strong leadership in the person of mrs. Charles and her team so all these variables led to themselves to grossly being the school of choice for the the center of excellence for sports now the Sinusha Sports Academy I can tell you when we had that first consultation we were blessed to have people like ulcer latter p brian lara another distinguished spot in personalities both from here and the region in the audience and at the head table and the excitement with which the audience stakeholders greeted this announcement I can say to you there was an equal amount of skepticism how do you do this and that's always the question when something is new and paradigmatic and and when you're about to orchestrate a paradigmatic shift people don't readily understand or they can't readily imagine how you do this and even in house oh what about the curriculum what kinds of students will go there who would want to send their student to to a sports academy I can tell you I come from a family where sports you know has has meant something to us my uncle marshal Francis one of what was one of Sinusha's early and well-known cricketers my brother waltz who was a national footballer I'll not mention my name because I was stopped very very early on and that tells the story so I remember when uncle Williams that's Greg Williams uncle Castro said oh you know I have great sporting ability my father's immediate retort is he does not know anybody who makes a living off of running I was a long distance runner at least I had that potential and and my brother by the time he'd gone to to England to try out although he had a few good gigs he was already too old and and so this is personal as as much as it's also professionally the professionally wise thing to do can we now in 2019 two and three decades on say to parents that if you do have a child who has some sporting potential who has that sporting dream that they don't have to wait to graduate from secondary school by which time the bone's a little harder by which time you know the the the international competitors would have benefited from very professional training and exposure from very early on you look at the sporting academies in the UK the students from five and six go into football academies you know I see a similar thing happening here thank goodness that many of the young kids at least have that option on a weekend so the thinking was can we afford the students very early on that dual path of development that the academic is not compromised that's not the intention that you can develop a competency in those core subjects that we need to survive anyway while pursuing that professional sporting path that would do three things for you not only would you be able to hone that sporting talent to harness that sporting talent to it would better position you to participate in regional international competitions with a very good chance of emerging um victorious but thirdly to give you that that dual path post-secondary to secure scholarship for tertiary education while pursuing um your professional sporting discipline I think coming on with that as well I think one of the major questions that the public is asking is how do you absorb the students who are currently at the grocery secondary or who were at the grocery secondary how do you absorb them within the system and how cumbersome has this become on the ministry to actually do that and selecting the new ones I can say to you that because of the level of engagement and consultation that we had of stakeholders a lot of this has been voluntary we've not thrust this down anyone's throat and I say that especially with respect to those students who've opted to participate in the program as that first cohort I mean that's that's that signals confidence in in in the ministry of education in the ministry sports and in their respective sporting facilities that have encouraged them to participate secondly the neighboring secondary schools willingly embraced those students who said well I'm quite happy to give up my space for somebody who really does want to pursue a sporting career and to join a neighboring secondary school the principals the district education officer that was so seamless that students volunteered to to attend another secondary school and so we have students who would have attended grossly now being absorbed in secondary schools nearby the other thing is the teachers themselves as stakeholders had a very critical role to play especially in terms of curriculum development but also very early on in saying what are the challenges we're likely to encounter and what we can do to avert or circumvent those even before we get to that bridge and that's the level of stakeholder engagement I recall walking into a stakeholder meeting with with sports journalists as a very select group of stakeholders who are coming to the initiative from a different angle and and even in the in the curriculum as I perused it as recently as last evening there is an accommodation for interviewing skills commentating and it's just so encouraging of course we have the menu of courses and over time we'll be able to deliver those as we get the facilitators and as the students move one in the system physiotherapy of course we will have English and math on there as well but it's an exciting menu of courses and I know that the young sports men and women who have opted to participate in this program and to be that 2019 2020 class they will never regret this move and I'm really excited we've had several meetings with parents we've met with other stakeholders and and I know the excitement is high admittedly with respect to the infrastructure especially the new buildings these will not be completed in time for the opening of school prime minister and I did a site visit last Friday and and the groundworks are happening foundations etc but in the interim because of the kind of square footage of floor space that we have at the current plant what used to be grossly secondary school we can make the adjustments and accommodate the students relatively comfortably yes I'm glad you closed off on that because we want to look at other areas on on your your stewardship that we would like to get out on this program before before we close and we also want to allow you sometime to probably answer a couple calls from from members of the public and remind you that you can call us on 468 2162 Lisa and certainly we're hoping that we can probably maybe just get an additional five to ten minutes on a program to allow us to an additional five to ten minutes for the ministers we can exhaust our topics this morning I never exhaust all of it but we will try South always coming to college we spoke briefly about it and now open in but it and you indicated that it's it's it is a it's deep yes it's very very deep but I think for for the community college whatever one wants to know is is will it ever be able to get to that university status is that something we've given up on given all of the problematic areas that it's going through right now or is that plan still in motion okay thanks for that question allow me to confess a personal bias I have always felt that whereas attaining university status can and does remain an ambition in the first instance the Arthur Lewis college has to be the best college that it can be the first instance and I think it does have all of the ingredients to be poised or to be positioned as a very good community college there are some challenges in no particular order we've had a leadership problem where the position of principal has remained vacant for a while and Dr. Auguste has held the fort during that time and I thank her for that I am advised by the board that in very short order we will be in a position to announce in your principal I think the interviews have happened via the issuance Arthur Lewis is the ailing plant many of these buildings historical buildings as they are have deteriorated to the point that they are uninhabitable thanks to the DVRP thanks to our equip project with the CDB we have been able to make some intervention thanks to an extra budgetary allocation of three million dollars last year we have been able to renovate one or two of the buildings as well you will notice that the nursing department a couple months ago was able to move into a new home on the morning but more importantly what I have encouraged stakeholders to do and the so Arthur Lewis family to do is to take a deep dive take a hard look at what I think is this Arthur Lewis problematic it is institutional it is cultural it is about physical infrastructure it is about the status of their teachers slash lecturers it is about leadership it is about continuing relevance it is about repositioning so Arthur Lewis such that it can remain the college of choice and to do that it means that it has to continue to offer to the public to the citizens of this country courses that are in demand courses that speak to the needs of the labor market not only today's labor market but what the labor market will look like tomorrow as well in that regard therefore we've had some very intense discussions at the board level and I imagine that those conversations also trickle down at other levels is we've had intense conversations about the necessity to clean up the curriculum that obviously there are courses on there that do not attract the same level of interest as others and similarly there are courses that are in demand that aren't yet on Arthur Lewis's books and I want to applaud them for being open to the exercise of discarding some but then someone holds for a while but also introducing new courses in that regard the work they have done with multimedia for example what you're doing with their pastry and baking program what they're doing with love for today they're working restaurant if I call it that when their students run that restaurant you must go up there to have a meal it is well with a good value for money and great service by the students what they have done recently in partnership with the OAS in terms of training the mechanics from the fire service I think it was and what they've done for Lucille in terms of upgrading and licensure because you know these things things change and so you have to be okroy the new techniques of doing things so the Arthur Lewis problematic is deep it's multifaceted let me say that cabinet holds Arthur Lewis close to its heart and that is why we've already received the nod to engage the Caribbean Development Bank to put together a special envelope for Arthur Lewis so that we can in the same manner that the problem is multifaceted that we can finance a multifaceted intervention so it is about rehabilitation of buildings training of the teachers or retraining and reschooling of the teachers curriculum review and innovation it is about expanding technological capacity already there are some online courses but that is the way of the world now that's the direction in which we're going and we need to ensure that more can be done at Arthur Lewis to offer students that dual engagement both face-to-face and online but inevitably you must have the technology and the bandwidth to do that and teachers who are themselves schooled and able to leverage the technology we also have to look at programs like the nursing program that that is very much sought after what more can we do so it can be more attractive we can have more regional and international students already there are expressions of interest from various parts of the world so we need to look at how how we could expand that program so we can maximize on that interest of course thinking of the revenue generation to be had as well more recently and I say this a little bit of caution because I know we've not had much engagement so I will articulate it as a vision it's not to say we've decided we're going that way but the vision is that given the amount of money that the government sets aside each year for the training of public servants could we not partner with an institution like Sir Arthur Lewis that itself is cash strapped to be the agency to deliver those programs so it's win-win for us that Sir Arthur Lewis gets to make some money that we get to train our public servants especially those between grades is at one and six so that they can we can develop some competence here some capacity at that level so it gives them the revenue generating opportunity we maximize the use of the 100 plus lecturers we have on there and also our public servants get an upgrade in their skill sets so we're so brainstorming this I don't want this to be so less you know it's sealed because you know my mantra engage engage engage consult consult consult but it seems like something worth pursuing since there are so many people who stand to benefit on the eve of the reopening of school we know that there have been some delays there's no running away from it I wish I could say that all the schools are ready for the reopening of school on Monday in the schools where we did very comprehensive work we may lag behind a day or two and and some schools may have to consider opening on Wednesday I leave that to my technocrats to determine which ones we still have at least four days to work with before Monday and a lot can happen in four days I beg the patients and indulgence of teachers and principals you know the irony of this is is when there is a complaint about the school not opening in time that is usually a good indicator of the quantum of work that we did and maybe we should cut back on on some of the work programs in the summer and stagger it throughout the year but you really want that in September students can come to a new space you know brightly painted with fresh and exactly exactly and and we continue to do our very best to ensure that that is the case regrettably again this year one or two schools may have to be staggered in terms of the opening schedule reopening schedule but but it's precisely because we were trying to do so much in that time the rehabilitation work will continue on weekends where that is permissible and certainly during the Christmas and Easter break as is customary but I want to thank all stakeholders for their patience and indulgence we have a question from a Facebook shower and once you know is the University of Glasgow that preparation fund is with UA is it available to individual states in the Caribbean and I understand it will be an agreement between Glasgow and UA allow me to look into that I would not want to make a dogmatic pronouncement on it because I know that there's still so much discussion regarding the mechanics or operationalization of the fund except that I see no reason why we shouldn't benefit just want to remind our viewers that you can call us on 468 2162 if you have any questions for Dr. Gilbert on our program we will be here for another 10 minutes or so so you can call in as we speak to her on matters pertaining to the reopening of school and other areas under her portfolio well Madam Minister we know for sure that this is something that you have every year in this whole the situation of the school plans and we were happy to hear that you also do not just depend on the long summer holidays but also for the Christmas time and also Easter and you did mention on the weekends and such and that before this still remaining before Monday is it something that the ministry has instituted that all during the year you monitor in terms of your maintenance needs so that it will ease on the pressure of these improvements and rehabilitation of plans when it comes to the long vacation and to start a new school yeah if you allow me let me say that no one in my ministry and certainly I I'm not comfortable with any school having to open a day or too late because of continuing infrastructural work and last year when we did our post rehabilitation review and even before that but certainly in our post rehabilitation review we recognize that we would do well to have additional personnel like a QS or superintendent of works for example believe it or not only last week we were blessed with those two personalities so I already know next summer that with these two additional bodies we can cure some of the administrative hurdles and and enjoy greater levels of efficiency because you'd be surprised what a difference those two individuals can make as as additions to the team the other thing is I can confess too that following our side visit on Friday like I said Prime Minister and I visited eight schools and one library on Friday we did make adjustments and and and some of those adjustments will affect the Monday reopening of school but we thought you know what you know when your heart breaks and your eyes now this is just urgent I don't think this can wait for another term let's do what we can so we had some of that as well and it's just the administration of this it boggles the mind some of the paperwork loads of paperwork and I'll have you know we started in April May June the call went out early in the year principles reported but it's just the administration operating within the guidelines and gladly so operating within the guidelines of the finance act for example ensuring that nominated contractors are suitable for the work so which they've been nominated the contractors themselves depending on the quantum of work they're given have to secure the requisite finances to so do and we're really hoping that we can cure some of those or shorten some of those administrative hurdles such that we don't have another year you know of a school being open the day or two or two late we have a facebook question and it's by what you've said that the view wants to know whether the community college is not expected to transition into a university anytime soon and if that is the case how can we account for the funds invested in the college transformation as well I was not in the least suggesting that we would not transform into university I began by saying that that remains an ambition but I'm adamant that before you can become a university that you ought to be a stellar college if you think of a morphing process it's a precursor growth component or stage before becoming a university so we can sharpen ourselves as a sterling college and then a transition to university and will happen organically all right on the teacher education and as you mentioned earlier we have those 18 teachers who went off and under the equip program what about at the teaching teachers college so all that's a very good question behind those who are unable to secure those scholarship oh no no the the applicants or the scholars who have benefited from this program will recruited largely from within the sector as active the teachers largely there may be one or two exceptions the teachers college which is the teacher ed department we say casually teachers college I would have met with them about two years ago and we concluded through some cursory analysis that we needed to undertake or undergo some kind of revamping in that department especially as it pertains to curriculum review and I said and we agreed further that we had sufficient talent in-house to undertake the exercise of curriculum review and that is why we had halted intake of certain categories of student teachers to allow the lecturers additional time of or non-teaching or non-contact hours to review the curriculum and to draft or craft a new curriculum one that is most suitable for the 21st century I imagine that is still working on that and Dr. Felicia has promised that in time who is the dean of teacher ed that he will have that done and as soon as we've done that I'd love to share it with the public because there's a lot of talent in that department and and I was not convinced that I needed to bring in someone from the outside to do that for them I believe that there is sufficient in-house talent to do that exercise some people are concerned that we may have shut ourselves in the foot by not latching on to become the fourth UE campus in the region how do you explain to the public why St. Lucia did not seek as Antigua did to become that host country I can say to you that the endeavor to become a UE campus is not something that has reached my desk or that I have engaged with UE on in any detail the reason being that it just never came up it preceded me we've not had reason to engage on that level there might have been passing conversations about it but not an engaged sustained dialogue regarding St Lucia becoming a campus and part of the reason is that many solutions don't realize the open campus of the University of the West Indies is right here in St Lucia on the morning so there's I heard all this quarrel about St Lucia not having a campus and why not St Lucia the open campus is right there heavily subsidized by the government of St Lucia heavily subscribed by St Lucia students so it is not a situation where St Lucia have been starved of an opportunity there's not a situation where this administration has not engaged UE to have another campus well there is one on the morning there is one that serves our present needs there is one that's doing a sterling job at churning out very well qualified students and graduates from other parts of the region as well so it's not an inherent loss by any definition and and and so I want to stem that fear and we have not that there isn't a gap that has been created because we've not become a fourth residential campus the open campus is right there on the morning the open campus of the University of the West Indies is headquartered in St Lucia and is accessible by all the inclusions who who matriculate or qualify for entry into its various programs if you ask them for their registration records you'd see the scores of hundreds of solutions that have benefited from from the product offering on the morning so I hope that cures notions of oh we don't have a campus oh solutions can't get to go to UE further let us not forget that so Arthur Lewis continues to have a relationship with the UE center guests in campus whereby students of the social sciences department in particular can pursue the first two years of their three year degree right here on the morning so we have two UE product offerings on the morning one in collaboration with Sir Arthur Lewis Community College largely for students airmarked to pursue a social science degree whereby they can do the first two years on the morning right here at home failing that they also have the option of registering for any of the open campus courses available and again because it is so heavily subsidized by the government of St Lucia works are to be a lot cheaper than having to go overseas so one of the other campuses just before we close off to reiterate and to clarify for for our listeners and viewers rehabilitation of the schools some schools may be openly may be staggered can you speak to more specifics do we know which schools would that be and have the parents already been notified I will leave that to my technical staff because I know that they're spending the morning doing that analysis some schools were flagged yesterday in some instances we threw more workmen on task in other cases we're meeting a stakeholders I would not want to make that pronouncement outside of having engaged with stakeholders adequately okay thank you very much Dr. Gilbert is certainly great to have you in focus today as we focus on the recommendation of school for the new school year the new academic year and we're happy that you're able to really give the public some of their plans and policies of government as it relates to the education system and how we're going forward into the new academic year we'd also like to say thanks to Ms. Doreen Gustav the acting director of NEMO who worked with us at the start of our program I'm Rana Brennan behalf of my co-host Lisa Joseph saying goodbye