 Prime Minister Hon. Philip J. Pierre once again pledged his government's commitment to providing electronic devices to every child on the island to aid their digital education development and to provide them with a platform to engage in online study whenever it becomes necessary. The need for such an input has been made even more clearer as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic which had, on several occasions over the last two years, affected in-person instruction in schools throughout the island because of sharp rises in COVID cases. Monday's initiative brought the island one step closer to this realization with the distribution of the first set of learnbooks under the Global Partnership for Education GPE COVID-19 Response and Recovery Accelerated Fund Project. Prime Minister Pierre says the presence of his cabinet at the ceremony is testimony of the seriousness of the philosophy of his administration to provide one laptop to every child. The philosophy that says that there must be equal opportunity for all individuals, every child, in spite of where they are born or where they live or where their parents come from or the color of their skin should have equal opportunity for education in the country of Prime Minister Pierre also expressed his thanks to the OECS Commission for providing just over 3,000 devices specifically to the most vulnerable and at risk primary school students from grades one to five. It's a shift of philosophy. It's a mindset. It's the same philosophy that says we must pay facility fees for every child. It's a philosophy that says we must pay CXC fees and I want to show you that before the end of this term we'll be paying every CXC fee for every child in this country. The devices provided will specifically go to students at the primary level of low socioeconomic homes without access to such a device. Unemployed parents who cannot afford devices of this nature and the primary school children with multiple siblings and no or limited access to a device to participate in online instruction will also benefit Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Education Sustainable Development Innovation Science Technology and Vocational Training Senator Honorable Pauline Antoine Prosper is sure the OECS Commission's input will help provide 21st century education to students even before they enter secondary school. As we speak the ministry is also receiving another 3,800 Chromebooks procured using government resources. This will be made available to students at the secondary school level. In the process of integrating technology in education we must ensure that the three fundamental 21st century literacy skills are achieved, information literacy, media literacy and technology literacy. Head of the Education Development Management Unit of the OECS Cessera Simon says COVID-19 propelled the region and indeed Saint Lucia to rethink, reshape and restructure education in order to bring about the necessary educational transformation that is needed for the years to come. Indications are that the pandemic would have further exacerbated the issues related to unequal socioeconomic situations. Students without access to the internet or devices at home would have been particularly affected. The electronic learning devices procured by the OECS Commission was at a cost of just over one million EC dollars. From the Communications Unit of the Ministry of Education Sustainable Development Innovation Science Technology and Vocational Training I am Chris Satney reporting.