 The Ministry of Education continues to ensure and support an inclusive e-learning environment by providing students with the tools needed to thrive and meet global trends and demands in education. On the eve of the opening of the 2022-2023 academic year, 2,100 Chromebooks and 2,120 tablets will be distributed to secondary and primary school students island-wide. Minister for Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training, Hon. Sean Edward joined the orientation exercise of incoming form once at the Castries Comprehensive Secondary School to officially hand over laptops to students, underscoring the Ministry's fervor to ensure that students can receive their devices in time for the reopening, equipped with Google for Education Workspace, offering students a multi-faceted approach to learning and diversifying options for instruction and assessment for teachers. There has never been a better time in the history of our education system to be a form one student than today. It is really, among other things, a way of introducing our children to the rudiments of technology and the application of technology in everyday living so that they can have a greater appreciation for it as they grow and they evolve as young citizens. Minister for the Public Service, Home Affairs, Labour and Gender Affairs, Hon. Virginia Albert Poyotte, whose Ministry is the executing agency of the Caribbean Digital Transformation Programme, says the handover of these devices is one aspect of the programme and forms part of a greater vision to create an enabling environment for the adoption of digital services in St. Lucia. So we have to accelerate the pace so that we can be on par with the OECS, with the region and to compete internationally. The Caribbean Digital Transformation Project will positively impact many sectors of the economy, education, and that is why we are here today to see how this project impacts education. The Minister of Education had a special message for students, encouraging them to be personally responsible and show that the devices are used well and taken good care of. The laptops that we'll be giving to you, we're not renting, we're not looning, we are giving them to you. But, but we will be monitoring very, very closely what you use them for. You have to be responsible users of the technology. Do not go on sites online that are meant for adults. Do not get involved in things you know that children should not be. We cannot pull this every child with every device, but we have a broad mechanism that can give us an insight into how the students are using it. Textbooks, yes, they're necessary, but we are now living in the information age where pen and paper is quickly being replaced by technology. The Caribbean Digital Transformation Program is funded by the World Bank and being rolled out in four OECS countries to the tune of US $20 million. The Ministry of Education from January 2022 has secured over 6,700 Chromebooks for students with more to be secured before the academic school year ends 2023. From the Communications Unit of the Ministry of Education Sustainable Development, Innovation Science Technology and the Vocational Training, I am Daniel Dubois reporting.