 Good evening everyone. Good evening. So we are already at 6 p.m. it's 6 p.m. so I guess we should start. Okay my name is Marina Julian Joseph the Education Officer acting for District 1. Okay so Miss Edith Emmanuel, the facilitators, the consultants, principals, teachers, community members. Everyone good evening. Okay at this point I want to take the opportunity to welcome everyone to the revised Education Act of St. Lucia. I want to encourage you to pay close attention to the changes that have been made as these will impact our future practices. Feel free to contribute to the discussions in whatever way you can. Whether it be in Paswa or English feel free to contribute and participate. It is your time to be part of the revised Education Act so let us make the best of it. Again I want to welcome you and let us participate in our discussion. At this point I'm going to pray opening prayer as without God we cannot do anything. I hope you are hearing me everyone. Yes let us pray. Yeah Heavenly Father I would like to thank you for today. Thank you for health. Thank you for strength. Thank you for courage. Father Lord as we engage in a discussion that will be beneficial to all of us I want to invite you into the midst of this discussion. Take control of the facilitators Lord. Help them to be able to deliver to us with ease that everyone will understand and contribute to the discussion. Open the minds of the rest of us that are participating that we will understand and will collaborate with each other and present a very productive activity. In Jesus's name I pray. Amen. Amen thank you. At this point I will hand over to Miss Paula McKinnon for her to start the discussion the consultation. Thank you very much. Don't have a good very pleasant and interactive discussion. If anybody is not able to if you if you want to speak part well I will try to translate to the best of my ability. Thank you very much. Over to you Miss. Thank you so much Mrs. Joseph and thank you for opening us for us this evening and providing us with the inspiration to have a fruitful discussion about the proposed draft Education Act and regulations. I my name is Paula Cook McKinnon and I am the principal of MindBloom Consulting who in partnership with Saint Francis Xavier University have supported the development. I would like to say co-created it with with many many many persons in Saint Lucia the draft that you will be seeing this evening and I would like to turn it over to Dr. Williams a member of our team who will lead this tonight's discussion. Dr. Williams. Thank you very much Paula and thank you for the devotion and warm welcome Mrs. Joseph very much appreciate it and I would like to begin by echoing what Mrs. Joseph said. We hope to have a very good discussion. We welcome your questions and comments this evening and as we go along we can pause at any time to address them so we really hope to hear from you because as Mrs. Joseph pointed out the Education Act any changes to the act will affect the schooling of children in Saint Lucia and the work of educators for a considerable time going forward so it's a very important topic that we're addressing tonight. Next slide please Paula we'd like to begin we have had our devotion and welcome we do appreciate your input we're going to speak about what's going to happen based on the discussion this evening and in the other town halls and I'd like to point out that there are going to be town halls held around Saint Lucia in each district to try to give everyone as much access to the discussions on the Revised Education Act and the maximum opportunity to contribute so this is the first one this is our first town hall meeting and we really do appreciate you taking the time to meet with us this evening and share your thoughts. Next slide please Paula so as Paula just said we work in partnership with the Ministry of Education with educators and stakeholders across Saint Lucia in that partnership to support the work of updating the Education Act and the three of us the three members of our team who will be facilitating these town hall meetings are Mrs. Fortuna Anthony, Mrs. Paula Cook McKinnon who just spoke a moment ago and myself Dr. Monica Williams. Paula has had an opportunity to say hi so I'm going to ask Fortuna if you would like to say a word of greeting this evening. Thank you very much Monica and like you I want to thank Mrs. Joseph for opening us in prayer and opening the session promptly and also for giving the assurance to persons present that we welcome speaking in Creole or English if they so desire so thank you ever so much and we will have active participation by our 65 participants present so far thank you very much. Thank you Mrs. Anthony. I'd like to just pause for a moment before we go into the discussion of the draft Education Act and regulations and for those of you who may not have participated in an online forum before on Zoom just like to walk through how you can raise your hand can contribute in different ways either by putting a comment in the chat box and I'm going to ask both Mrs. Anthony and Mrs. McKinnon to watch the chat box for me and flag any questions or comments you have there you can also raise your hand at any time and ask a question or or share a comment with us so if you look at the bottom of your screen at the icons you'll see one entitled reactions and when you click on that the first thing that comes up is a bar to raise your hand so you simply click on that bar and you'll see that the symbol comes up that you want to share a question or a comment when you've finished you simply click again on the bottom of your screen on the lower hand icon and that's it's as easy as that so hopefully we'll see lots of those hands up as we go along this evening and have a good discussion next slide please Paula so this is a brief overview of our schedule for this evening we've had our welcome devotion and introductions we're going to go over the purpose and the ground rules for the meeting shortly I'm going to share with you a brief description of the review of the St. Lucia Education Act that's been taking place since February in 2022 so we're going to have a description of what's been completed what's happened so far and the progress that's been made then we're going to go over the core features of the Draft Education Act and regulations so based on the work that's been done since February 2022 two drafts have been prepared this is the most recent draft and we're going to go over the core features and go step by step through each part of the Draft Education Act and each section of the draft regulations and we're going to have clauses as we go along for you to ask questions make comments but you can again raise your hand at any time we want to hear from you your priorities and hopes for the Draft Education Act and regulations what do you think needs to be addressed what are the most important priorities that need to be addressed as the regulations and the Education Act are updated what do you hope to see come out of this revised Education Act of regulations so we're going to have that discussion as well at 7.25 we'll have concluding remarks and we thank you and at 7.30 we'll adjourn and we're very respectful of everybody's busy schedules and time so we will try to keep to this schedule as best we can and make sure that we we've started promptly and we'll make every effort to complete all the different parts of the discussion and to conclude promptly as well next slide please Paula so what is the purpose of these town hall meetings well first of all we want to describe the review and enhancement of the Education Act and walk you through the work that's been done and give you an update on that secondly we want to discuss the core features of the Draft Act and regulations and in particular when we're talking about core features we're going to emphasize what's new in this draft Education Act versus the current act of 2005 so we're going to highlight the the new additions as I mentioned a moment ago we want to listen to your priorities and hopes for the Education Act and regulations we are recording the session tonight because we want to record your questions and comments and then we're going to examine them and look for the topics and issues that are raised in the town hall meetings and we will address those topics and issues in the validation and finalization of the Draft Education Act and regulations so by participating tonight you're having an opportunity to contribute to the validation and finalization of a draft Education Act and regulations and that's a very important role next slide please so these are the meeting ground rules your questions and comments are welcomed we've got a minimum of slides and maximum time for discussion the facilitators are chairing the meeting this evening I'll be taking the lead but Mrs. Anthony and Mrs. McKinnon will be assisting the meeting as I mentioned will start in promptly and you can put your comments in the chat box or ask questions in the chat box and we'll be monitoring that to speak during the meeting please use the raise your hand function that I showed you on the screen a few moments ago and when you're acknowledged by a facilitator state your name and share your question or comment we're asking that you keep your question or comment to three minutes or less so that as many people as possible can have the chance to speak during the meeting so if everyone could be concise we'd really appreciate that to give everybody who wants a turn a turn to speak we appreciate and respect all questions and comments and ask that you do the same if there's one thing that we've learned in working with St. Lucian's on their Education Act they are very passionate about it there are very different opinions about it and what should be in and what should be out and because this is a very significant topic we really need to all take our time listen carefully and appreciate what other people have to say we may not agree with it but it's important that all voices are heard and that's one of our main goals in these town hall meetings next slide please okay i'm going to pause there and just check if there are any questions about how the meeting is going to run or any of the ground rules does anyone have a question and i'll take a look at the screen and also again i'm relying on mrs anthony and mrs mckinnon i don't see anything there okay so a brief description of the review starting in february 2022 the st lucia department of education contracted with mind bloom consulting and st francis aviar university to partner with st lucia educators in the review and the enhancement of the education act so the department of education reached out and expressed the desire to review the current education act and the the review was undertaken for several reasons very importantly the current education act is from 2005 and the department of education wants to ensure that the education act meets the needs of a modern education system now and in the future so there was a desire to ensure that the education act is current that it meets the needs of our students today and that it addresses emerging issues in education that are happening across the caribbean and around the world so to make it a state-of-the-art contemporary education act next slide please follow so from february up to the present time we've completed in partnership with st lucians across the island extensive stakeholder consultations and extensive research has been completed so we have had consultations with students parents educators various groups for example the st lucia teachers union the national principles association the teaching service commission just to name a few and through all of that we've been conducting research so we've been looking at education acts across the eastern caribbean across the caribbean as a whole and around the world to identify current issues and how they're being addressed in education systems and what the best practices are that are happening in revisions to education legislation so we've talked to a lot of people we've done a lot of research and we have a mic down here muta thank you i'm sorry about that based on the findings of the consultations and research that have been conducted since february 2022 a draft education act and regulations were prepared in march of this year in march 2023 so we did a first draft and then multiple stakeholders provided feedback on this draft more than 700 suggestions were received reviewed and acted upon to create the latest draft that we're looking at and discussing here this evening and in the other town halls and as i mentioned a moment ago multiple groups have participated teachers groups principles groups we've had feedback from people at the local college many many different participants have provided feedback and we we treat that as our key source of knowledge and information going forward and we're looking for more of that input from all of you this evening next slide please paul so the town hall meetings are being held across the island to provide members of the public with three different aspects here a description of the review of the education act 2005 and the progress achieved to date access to the revised november 2023 draft education act and regulations and they are available on a website with public access so you can look at them examine them at any time they've been posted publicly and an opportunity to contribute to the validation and finalization of the draft act and regulations so those are the three purposes of the town hall meetings next slide please so what's new or based on all the research all the consultations all of the drafting that's gone on so far what's new in this draft education act and regulation regulations well very importantly right at the start of the draft act there's a new student-centered vision for education in st lusia and that's contained in the what's called the long title and in this introduction to the act so to speak there's an emphasis on holistic education so rather than just functioning on student performance on examinations for example there's an emphasis on supporting the growth and well-being and development of all students so they're learning their achievement their mental and physical wellness the whole child so there's that emphasis on holistic education there's also an emphasis on um having the act address the curriculum and assessment in a contemporary way so that the proposed national curriculum is inclusive it upholds the cultural diversity of the peoples in st lusia oh we have another mic and assessment is broadened to provide different types of assessment not just examinations but ongoing checks of student progress as they're working diagnostic assessment and so on so all of these things are highlighted in the new student-centered vision for education for st lusia there's also an emphasis on education for all and that all students have access to education all children have access so these are some of the key highlights starting right off the bat at the beginning of the act in what's called the long title right after that there's a section of the act called interpretations and this contains the definitions that are used throughout the education act this section has been expanded a lot and the terminology has been updated because one of the things we heard from parents from educators from many st lusians was that the language that's used in the current education act is outdated in some places in the current act there's reference to programs that are no longer provided in some aspects of the act terminology is used that's no longer the accepted terminology in areas such as special needs education so we also heard from many people that there were definitions that needed to be added to the act that weren't there currently so we have expanded the definitions and updated the language significantly so that's the next piece that is a real change a real update in the draft as i mentioned the focus on holistic education that supports student learning and well-being begins with that vision statement and goes right throughout the act so whether we're talking about the curriculum whether we're talking about teachers duties and rights all through every part of the act that's highlighted other key developments are universal access to education is now in the draft act and what that means is that all students have access to education that's one of their rights so we have a section in the act on the rights of students and this is one of the the rights that they have also the right to free tuition so that all children can access their education and can attend school with free tuition there's also protection from discrimination in the in the draft act and regulations so that children can't be discriminated discriminated against or denied in education on grounds such as gender or ability or ethnic background or language so there's protection from discrimination as well in addition another thing that's new in the draft act and regulations is there's a new council on special needs education and inclusive education and i should mention that inclusive education is emphasized throughout the draft act and regulations as well so this new council will provide support for accommodating children with a wide range of special needs in the schools provide support and guidance and this is a new development in the act also new is a national code of conduct so at present there are different school rules and school codes of conduct in the schools across st lucha and many different stakeholders identified in need just have to have some kind of common standards for student behavior that everyone could follow and so the national code of conduct gives those common standards of behavior and also a standard for appropriate dress in st lucha schools so that's new as well and that is referenced in the education act and described in detail in the regulations we also have the compulsory school age expanded instead of five to 15 years it's now increased to cover three to 17 years so now early childhood education has been added to the draft act for children ages three to five years and that also accommodates pre kindergarten programs which are already in operation in some schools across the island but weren't referenced in the current education act we heard from many educators principals teachers vice principals ministry leaders that there was a need for clear authority for teachers and for school administrators to be able to discipline students and protect the safety and security of students and staff at school and we have strengthened their authority to do just that so that's another addition to the act it's clearly spelled out we had feedback that it wasn't clear at the present time so we tried to clarify that we've added many different types of education to the act especially with the pandemic we have online education blended education distance education and these were not in the 2005 act and so we've added all these new types of education to the act and throughout the whole act we have clearly defined rights duties powers and responsibilities everyone from the minister and the permanent secretary and the chief education officer to students and parents and teachers and school counselors and so forth that was another request we had for many people that we've addressed the rights duties powers and responsibilities are now clearly spelled out next slide please paul monica there is a question that's come through the feed that are there provisions for promotion and administering of adult literacy there is a provision for adult education now in the act that's now included in the interpretation section and further on in the act the it stated that the minister may provide adult education so i think adult literacy programs would fall under that that is now in the act great question so um those are the highlights and i'm not going to read all this to you i'm going to i'm just going to show you the parts of the act and the regulations and go into discussion two more slides and then we're opening it up to the floor so what are the parts of the draft education act there's a preliminary section that has the long title i see a question here what are the disciplinary actions that are in place for the students great question in the national code of conduct we've um spelled out different types of student misbehavior and different responses to student misbehavior so we've provided specific responses it could be in school suspension it could be a reprimand it could be a verbal warning it could be an out of school suspension there's a comprehensive list of responses to student misbehavior and that's spelled out in the national code of conduct and regulations great questions okay monica sorry there's one more question does alternative education cover homeschooling great question homeschooling is treated separately now that's another topic we had a lot of requests about people wanted to have more guidance on whole homeschooling more structure we have really strengthened that part of the act so there's more detail provided on homeschooling and also to have inspections and monitoring of homeschooling that's now been added to the act and another question would if homeschooling is expanded in the act does that necessitate a homeschooling curriculum and guidelines excellent question what we've done in the section on homeschooling is stated that the national curriculum of st lucha will serve as the standard for homeschooling programs so they will they will work toward the main content objectives of the national curriculum but we recognize as well that parents may want to add other pieces of instruction to homeschooling programs and that's perfectly acceptable as well but throughout the act we're using the national curriculum as the standard for instruction across the island and one more for you does the disciplinary action does uh is it for kindergarten and grade it says does the disciplinary action is it for kindergarten and grade one up to grade three or the higher grades i guess what is the scope of the disciplinary action that's a that's an excellent question uh fortunately did you want to speak to that i just saw your mic oh okay the the scope of the national code of conduct is for children of all ages in education so ages three to 17 years and and for students who stay in secondary school for some extra time can go right up to 20 so it can go from three to 20 years that's an excellent question because with regard to the young children with regarded children who have different needs it's emphasized in the code of conduct that when educators are responding to misbehavior they have to take in to account oh someone's not hearing anything they have to take into account can you hear me yes okay they have to take into account the age the developmental level um any special needs that the child has so all those factors have to be taken into account when responding to student behavior um so that's an excellent point that was raised in that question and one more great on the new on the new council on special needs education what provision is made for children who are operating at a high academic level well interestingly what we're proposing is on the new council for special education and inclusive education that one of the members of that council be a secondary student with special needs so we want to get student voice in there um and we also recognize in the list of special needs which has been updated that it's very broad and it also includes giftedness so that students who are gifted may certainly encounter some challenges and require some supports in school so we've added that explicitly in the act um the other thing i would say is for high functioning children with special needs a key advance in the draft act is that we're recommending that children be educated in the least restrict environment environment with their age peers unless it's absolutely necessary that they attend a separate school so we're promoting that children with special needs are wherever possible educated with their age peers unless they require a very specialized kind of education that's delivered in a special education school so for children with special needs who are high functioning there's more opportunity to attend classes in their neighborhood schools these are really good questions i know i keep saying excellent but they are excellent questions anything else there paula no not right now okay oh does this oh does this extend to streaming it just came in well that's another issue we heard quite a bit about one of the ways that we're tackling streaming in the draft education act is around the whole issue of assessment and so as opposed to assessment being focused on examinations and students being ranked and placed in different programs solely on the basis of examinations we're recommending a much broader type of assessment be used where there are ongoing checks on student performance where students have different ways to show what they've learned in addition to examinations in the hope that that will open up the discussion and the information that's taken into account when students are being recommended for different programs so excuse me we have certainly heard a lot about streaming and we're we're really recommending major changes to student assessment to address that and monica this is just a comment not a question usually people think of special needs children as children who are under performing we need to get this out of people's heads absolutely absolutely we there are many negative stereotypes and for example you can have a child and i'm speaking from decades of experience in special education as well as other aspects of education you can have a child who's in a wheelchair who's gifted who is a gifted student and just because she's in a wheelchair it doesn't mean she's not academically strong so we have to get past those stereotypes and look at the whole child again back to holistic education and how we can best meet their needs okay so these are the oh sorry go ahead no i was just going to say i think that's it for the chat right now great thank you paul so these are the parts of the act i've spoken about the highlights so i'm just going to show you what the parts of the act are the preliminary section which includes those definitions that i mentioned and the purpose of the act the administration of the education system is part one and that talks about the duties and responsibilities of the minister the permanent secretary the senior leaders in the in the ministry and education advisory boards in part two we have the stages of education and types of schools including denominational schools public schools private schools as i mentioned a few moments ago we have an expanded section on homeschooling and also special needs education and inclusive education and i see a question i'm not sure if it was discussed but does the revised act make provision for the gift to child yes it does giftedness is now recognized explicitly in the act please keep the questions coming um rights and responsibilities of students and parents is part three uh so there are uh statements in there about as i mentioned universal access to education also student accountability to the educators who are teaching them and the rights and duties of parents another one have provisions been made for a standardized curriculum for early childhood education um that is not something that i'm aware of i know there's a lot of discussion about the national curriculum um i don't know paul or fortune if you wanted to comment further on that i did not think that um we have begun looking at a specific curriculum for early childhood but this is a very good point that has been raised yes i think that the curriculum mostly is focused on kindergarten through uh through secondary that's right and was there another comment there in the chat is there proper training for teachers on the subject of special needs and what do they expect from those children such as certain behaviors or traits and how to handle them correctly and with empathy um we don't reference training for special needs explicitly in the act um i know that there's ongoing work in the country at the present time on a new policy for special education and i believe that that is being addressed in that in the policy work so it is a topic that's under discussion but it hasn't been addressed directly in the act can you please elaborate on special needs education and inclusive education certainly um so special needs education are programs and services that are tailored to meet the needs of children with various special needs they could have autism spectrum disorder learning disabilities they could have giftedness and they need enrichment the child might have some motor difficulties and be in a wheelchair and require an accessible classroom and bathroom so special education is really tailored to meet the the needs of of those children it can take the form of individual education plans or IEPs or accommodations in school for the children inclusive education is a bit broader so inclusive education um is really supporting the inclusion of all children in school and it's not just students with special needs that's a part of it but it goes beyond that to say we have to have education that welcomes children from different backgrounds different cultures who have different languages who come from different family structures so inclusive education is welcoming all children and meeting them where they are regardless of their differences so it's broader than special education but again it is the accommodation of difference um that is at the core of inclusive education okay we need more teachers for special needs in public schools can you define homeschooling um so with regard to the special needs um Paul is it okay if I mention the assessment yes of course okay so in another um a major project that's been ongoing in the area including st lusia an assessment the first assessment like full assessment of special education in st lusia and in the OECS countries was completed um over the past year and a half and the report was finalized in june that report has been publicly released it included a survey uh that was responded to by over 5500 uh teachers students parents um members of the public we had community members and a massive amount of research and consultation in that report on the assessment of special education in the OECS it is clearly identified that there is a need for more trained special education teachers it's also identified there is a major need for specialists who can diagnose and treat different special needs so if you're interested in the work that's going on in the area special education I would strongly recommend that you access that report um because it does address these issues in detail and they are very important issues and may I ask um I didn't hear um monica that um this report I I'm sure is on the ministry website so it can be accessed it has been I don't I do the OECS I don't believe it is on the ministry website um because it is an OECS report so um but I think if persons wanted to follow up with that they could um certainly contact um persons in the ministry who could then access it um through through uh through their representatives on the in the OECS okay I thought I saw it there but um I could be wrong thanks thank you so just if I'm sorry for tuna if that is the case that's wonderful but that's that I hadn't seen it so I didn't want to guarantee that it was there okay good thank you okay part four someone is still not hearing us I do not know why uh Sophia please go ahead I see your hand up hi good evening I would be just following up on the um inquiry about the report this is something that we can make available to persons who are interested and circulated to the schools um I am on the OECS as the national coordinator and do have access to the report thank you very much that's great nice to have you here yes that's wonderful um so part four is about student admission to schools there are student attendance and school records and part five is the national curriculum instruction and assessment of students and I've highlighted the major changes before but these are the parts of the act I would like to point out that in the section part four on admission attendance and records we have put in stronger provisions to support student attendance at school and we have updated the um work the rights and duties of the school attendance officer because we recognize that student attendance has been an ongoing issue in education systems around the world since the pandemic and st lucha is no different and we heard from many people that they wanted more supports for student attendance and we've put them in there okay our next slide please yeah another comment uh students enter secondary school based on their results of the cpea is there any other information given about each student that would who I just lost the comment that would be beneficial to the school that the student has moved to that's another point um that has been raised in our consultations and has been addressed in the draft act so what's recommended now in part four on student admission attendance and records is that there would be a school record for every student in school that would include their grades their attendance their progress reports so that there would be information for secondary schools to receive on the student in addition to the examination results so we are recommending that records be kept on each child to provide that information going forward and another question what provision our what provision is made for the implementation of 21st century teaching and learning skills in the schools that is highly emphasized in the national curriculum and so in part five when you look at the the description of the national curriculum for to give you just a couple of examples in this section it talks about the importance of students not just learning things but learning how to think critically how to apply what they're learning in school out in the community or in the workplace communication skills all these different 21st century skills are emphasized and again it's not just students learning something and then repeating it on an exam really that they gain knowledge and skills and values and competencies that they can use in school and life so it's that very broad 21st century approach to curriculum that's emphasized in that part of the act and another comment while I advocate the need for more special education teachers I think the time has come for all of our teachers to be exposed to aspects of special education teachers attitude towards children with special needs is the greatest hindrance it may be as a result of lack of knowledge I think that the the issue around children with special needs and having more capacity in the schools is one that certainly merits attention and has been meriting attention as I just explained we've just completed a major assessment and identified these areas with regard to teacher training I agree with you and I think everybody on our team would agree with you I'm sure they would that accommodating children with special needs is something that every teacher needs to learn how to do and teachers require support to do that so it's a very valid point and it's something that's receiving increased attention and then another question what is the need for the minimum standard exams so they are included in the interpretation section of the act and the definitions the different national examinations or regional examinations are defined and then they do serve a purpose in terms of what is the need for them they are a type of summative assessment that gives information about how much students have learned at the end of a term or a school year so they do provide that that information but it's important as we've been saying that's not the only information about how students are performing there are many different kinds of assessment and rather than viewing them as the the assessment they are one type and we do have a comment in in the chat about excuse me I am deaf and I am not hearing what you are saying so we will work to determine how we might make it possible for you to hear we will attempt to deal with that and we sincerely apologize that you're not being able to hear this as well as as we would want you to so we will work on that thank you Paula yeah absolutely next slide please so these are the other parts of the act part six is the management of schools and in this section we talk about boards of management we also have expanded there is a real desire in the country to expand parent teacher associations to parent teacher community associations so that there's a broader partnership between the schools and the communities and that's been included in the draft act part seven the national code of conduct school rules and discipline we have again a strengthened the descriptions and clarified the authority of educators to discipline students and we're really um striking a balance between giving um principals and vice principals and teachers the authority to protect the safety and security of students and staff while still respecting the rights of students so that is another part of the draft act someone would like to turn on captions Paula okay okay great suggestion that's a very good suggestion okay the rights and duties of educators so that includes principals vice principals teachers and we've added school guidance counselors to this section of the act they weren't in there before um part nine is the st island a st lucha island scholarship which has been updated part 10 uh describes the appeal processes that parents and others in the system can access if an educational decision has been made that they um don't agree with and they they would like to have reviewed and then part 11 is miscellaneous topics like loitering on school premises um contagious diseases closure of schools and i see some other things coming up in the chat box can you read the mail paula please uh they're just here before i can read them i know no problem just let me go back up to where they started um okay here we go bear with me oh has has provision been made to standardize in what form students in the secondary school choose their subjects for instance some school choose subjects in form two rather than form three there's provision in the national curriculum including in the regulations the description of the national curriculum in the regulations to accommodate a lot of different subjects in secondary schools as well as alternative education um so it it's not standardizing but it's giving the secondary schools the leeway to choose from a variety of subjects that meet their students needs for secondary education next slide please paula so that's the act i just want to pause there we've been getting lots of questions and comments and open it up to the floor other questions or comments about the draft education act and again you can find this online um it's public uh publicly available knowledge or information that you can access to learn more any other questions or comments about the draft act i'm just checking to see if there are any raised hands but i don't see any i have there's one new message here when i access the act right it's already so it is available on the ministry's website website yes any any last call any other questions or comments on the act draft act and we'll just quickly go into the regulations what what measures are in place to avoid sorry is it okay to speak yes please go ahead yeah thanks i was asking the question um what measures are in place to avoid um teachers we've had situations where teachers live in the middle of a term um and sometimes the students struggle during a period of being during a transition time are there measures in place to avoid or to mitigate um teachers live in within in the middle of a term um whether primary or secondary school um and um what what what what i'm placed because we know sometimes they have school actually have to look for a teacher or sometimes there is a a long between the teacher living and a new teacher coming in so it's it's a serious um situation that has affected students in some schools i just wanted to hear on that that is a serious issue um i would say that it's not addressed directly in the education act because that touches upon um the teacher's contract as to how and when they can resign from a position um so it's not something that would usually be addressed in an education act but could certainly be addressed in the contract um that may also be a topic that the teaching service commission um you know is best positioned to address because they are involved in the appointment of teachers so i wish i i had an answer for you that said it is addressed in the act but right now it is not and thank you for flagging it anyone else like to raise a question offer a comment how there's a question um uh there's a question here with regard to part eight of the education act is there anything within the act that speaks to teacher in charge where primary schools have no vice principal um it doesn't explicitly speak to teacher in charge and that's a really good point that we should note um because that does happen so that's that's something that we should really look at thank you for raising it and is there any provision made for substitute teachers when teachers are absent well the duties the rights and duties of educators so the rights and duties of teachers vice principals principal school counselors when a substitute teacher is employed in the school instructing the children um he or she has the same duties as if it was a full-time teacher um the same rights and so that the act applies to substitute teachers as well as teachers who are uh full-time employed in the position and then there's a there's a question here about um retirement age i believe the act should say at the end of the school year when the teacher turns 60 not on their 60th birthday and i think that relates to um you know uh a teacher retiring in the middle of a year right and that again maybe something that would be looked at in the teacher's contract uh around retirement provisions but it's not something that's usually addressed in in an education act is the compulsory school age still 15 years um it is expanded to three to 17 years now in the draft act so here and there's a hand up uh uh janine immanuel janine go ahead janine immanuel go ahead good evening um i've been listening to the program from the beginning and um the act what i'm trying to find out is um is there anything in police in place for um bullying especially with our children of special needs um our witness certain things have been happening in schools with the older kids most of the young older ones that are bullying the younger ones that um differently abled and um is there something in the act that is going to help teachers to try to combat this kind of actions thank you very much for that question yes there is in the act and the regulations in the national code of conduct um bullying is recognized as uh it's defined it's recognized as student misbehavior that has to be addressed also we've we've tackled cyber bullying um bullying children online uh inappropriate use of the internet which also is used sometimes in bullying we've addressed all those issues in the national code of conduct and they're spelled out uh because that the the whole area of bullying unfortunately has become so rampant and it needs to be addressed so it is um there's a question here um often teachers take students on field trips in relation to cons concepts of their being taught is there anything in the act that stipulates how children should be cared for on these occasions so that would be student trips and it's not addressed explicitly under student trips but certainly part of the duties of a teacher uh principal vice principal a teacher who's supervising on a school trip would apply that they are supervising the students that they are monitoring discipline etc so whether they're in the school or on a school trip those duties of the teachers would would apply however um in other places often school trips are dealt with in a separate policy so there often is a policy on school trips that talks about what kinds of transportation are acceptable how many chaperones you need the types of activities that you can go on school trips for so that would be more of a policy topic I added here um monica that um there is also school policies that dictate that depending on how many children being taken out on educational tours that there must be a stipulated number of adults um to um issues of the type of transportation is also part of the criteria that principals normally use in the selection of um coaches or transportation for children so I think and and children are insured by um the government of st lusia so there are a number of things in place to save guard children being taken out on educational tours thank you very much for tuna and that's great to hear it it is a very important policy issue for the safety and security of the students and also the staff on the on the trips so thank you for sharing that and another question if at 15 a child no longer shows interest in school in place truancy is the parent or guardian now obligated to allow that student to continue schooling until age 17 that's a really good question um but with the expanded school age we would expect that they would attend until age 17 unless for example in some instances they may complete secondary school at a younger age so it's up to age 17 or when they complete secondary school if I may add in here also that there is normally communication um between the principal the school counselors play a very critical part here and decisions are made um this is why sometimes children are asked whether they would like to move on to um the center for adolescent and development depending on what they see their future skills being involved in so there is communication but when it comes to obligation according to the law children should be at school and since we are expanding it 17 but we are hoping that there will be that kind of open communication with the child the parents the school counselor and the principal to seek alternative education this is why the government is presently moving in the way of um TVET schools where skills of interests could be chosen by the child um yes I noticed somebody speaking about Nell you yes um sometimes children are referred to go into Nell you where they learn a skill you know so so there are different pathways that are now being put in place thank you for tuna and around that issue we have added alternative education to the act in the definitions and also in the types of education that the minister may authorize for that very reason so that students who perhaps need a non-traditional type of education more um vocationally oriented that there would be opportunities for that um so that has been added to the act another question uh the substitute teacher is there anything that states about having substitute teachers at the school in the absence of another teacher due to sick leave instead of a teacher being subjected to teaching or supervising two classes there's nothing in the act about that specific issue um again the teacher assignments this is really speaking to teacher assignments is usually handled through the contract the teacher's contract as opposed to in the education act um so for that reason it's not in there also oops also are the um just also are the roles and responsibility of the school counselors included in the draft act also increasing the number of school counselors for each district the uh rights and duties of school counselors have been added to the draft act they've been added to the section on the rights and duties of educators so they're included now along with principals vice principals and teachers you'll also find the school counselors role defined and and then there's a question is the draft act on the government.lc website if so i'm not able to locate it i would suggest that you go to the ministry of education facebook page that's probably the easiest place to access it and there are instances where the teacher is the bully uh and the and actually the equip facebook page as well um there are instances where the teacher is the bully what can be put in place in this situation well one of the things about the national code of conduct is that it sets a standard for behavior for all members of a school community and teachers have roles and responsibilities to demonstrate positive respectful behavior just as students do administrators parents coming in to the schools so there's an expectation that everyone will will follow the standard of behavior and it's not just aimed at students it's aimed at the members of a school community and we have one more just a comment i don't think substitute teacher polishes should be left to contracts this will just encourage i think is yeah encourage the practice of teachers holding two classes if it is legislated then the ministry has to find a substitute teacher um i think uh go ahead monica respond no go ahead paula well i i do think that this is within the purview of the teaching service commission because that is um the teacher teaching service commission appoints teachers and and so i think it is beyond perhaps um we can check with our our drafting um uh team that supports this but i think it's beyond it it would be within the teaching service commission purview not within the education act uh within the purview of the education act i agree okay next slide please paula if there we'll go to the regulations whoops there we go so this is we have a one slide summary on the key points in the draft regulations and i want to point out that if these regulations are adopted or a version of them it will be the first time that st lucha has regulations to support the education act regulations really are a set of procedures that help to guide everyone to implement the act they help with the interpretation of the act and the implementation of it so the regulations are a great support and if regulations were enacted along with the education act it would be a big step ahead um so in terms of the sections there is a preliminary section like an introduction to the regulations part one deals with administration of schools now in this section there are guidelines spelled out for the length of the school year the length of the school day um the school calendar that has to be published every year by the ministry how long the school vacations are what should be included in school timetables um so all of those procedures are spelled out in the regulations and there's an emphasis in those provisions to protect teaching time one of the things we've heard from many people is that there are a lot of disruptions to teaching time and teachers don't feel they have enough time to cover the curriculum so we really tried in this section to respond to those concerns and set some parameters around protection of teaching time the national curriculum is described in part two and schedule five and the regulations the primary and secondary curriculum is described and as mentioned earlier it's uh it upholds the cultures and peoples and histories of st lusia and the languages it's got to focus on 21st century skills and values and learning um so it's it's a very broad curriculum framework management of public schools is addressed in part three and again there's more detail provided on how private schools assisted schools homeschooling all these different parts of the education system operate also there's a list of the matters that are to be looked at during school visits and inspections and also inspections of homeschooling part four are the councils and associations and as i mentioned earlier on we've moved beyond parent teacher associations to parent teacher community associations a national council of them so an increased emphasis on partnership and in part five and in schedule eight and the regulations there is a detailed description of the national code of conduct including the purpose the guiding principles the standards of behavior the standard for appropriate dress for members of a school community different categories of misbehavior and a moment ago i mentioned bullying is singled out as one of those misbehaviors that's addressed there's a description of acceptable and unacceptable responses to misbehavior and roles and responsibilities of students parents teachers the ministry of education principles to support positive behavior and safe and secure schools so that's all listed in detail in the national code of conduct and regulations part six deals with disciplinary complaints and hearings part seven describes how an education appeals tribunal operates and part eight is miscellaneous it includes different schedules and forms that are used to apply to the ministry to operate a school for admission to school etc so those are the the pieces that are included in the draft regulations monica we have a question sorry if this was asked earlier but said earlier but does the act deal with the age of entry into the primary school system versus child readiness for example will gifted three or four year olds be able to begin primary education early so in this was a topic of a lot of discussion the age is for entry into school and the way it's worded in the in the act now it's a bit more flexible than it was so certainly exceptional circumstances like giftedness can be taken into account in the draft act when looking at the age of entry to different schools i'd have to check if that's explicitly for primary school but i know for secondary school it's definitely it can be considered the other thing i want to point out though is with the expansion of the compulsory school age to three to 17 years there's no provision for three to five year olds for early childhood education and also as i mentioned a while ago for pre-kindergarten programs so there is more flexibility i'd have to check on the specific wording for entry into primary school another comment i am happy the school age has been expanded to 17 because too many of our boys and girls are out in the street it should be law that they attend technical school if they don't want to attend regular skill school to uh till 17 so the the fact that they are in school is a good thing and if they don't want to be in one program they should have the option of the other i believe is what this person is saying and uh sophia has her hand up so sophia if i could just comment on that further please paula we also we've also added to the act there are some students who would stay beyond the age of 17 in school to access different programs they may take longer to complete secondary school or students with special needs who stay longer so there is now a provision in the draft act for what we call extended school age for youth aged 18 to 20 years so that some of those students may stay longer as necessary we've also added that in uh sophia go ahead please thank you um i wanted to speak to the i guess addressing pre-k i was i didn't get it quite clearly what your response was but it seemed um that the act may not have spoken to pre-k education i'm not sure if this is what i heard but if this is the case then i see it as a gap because if we are seeing the the act addresses children three to seventeen years then pre-k definitely falls within the preview of the act but also we are aware that we have a number of primary schools which have now begun or i guess incorporated pre-k into their structure and this is formally done through the ministry of education we currently have six schools that started this program well it's not a program but a revision of the structure of the school and having pre-k there effective september 2023 we are getting ready for an additional three schools they are actually doing the refurbishment and the preparation to add pre-k to that structure and this is something that we believe will be we will be moving ahead in terms of that format so we'll see quite a number of our primary schools officially starting from pre-kindergarten as opposed to kindergarten in terms of the curriculum there is um i think it's an adapted high scope curriculum that has been used and the teachers are trained and so therefore the act should address pre-k students in that regard also i think one of the challenges we have now is with the act looking at children from k from age five entering k the insurance issue would have would need to be addressed so if the act um places focus on pre-k students as well then that's one issue that would be mitigated in terms of how do we get the coverage for the children in that group and in terms of the the code of conduct and looking at discipline i notice we have um a hearing and disciplinary complaints etc an acceptable and unacceptable responses to misbehavior and i'm assuming that um this speaks to positive discipline which is um supported by the ministry of education following on the abolishment of corporal punishment in schools so whilst we do have positive discipline it should be aligned to whatever the national code of conduct is and i'm not sure if it speaks to teachers being properly trained in administering positive discipline thank you thank you so fia so with regard to pre-kindergarten i'm just looking at the draft act now um it certainly accommodates a primary school offering early childhood education um we did in a in a former draft of this expressly referenced pre-kindergarten it got taken out of the most recent drafting but i really feel it needs to be explicitly stated again because we had added pre-kindergarten to the definitions and to the stages of schooling so we will i we will add that back in this is an important point that is especially since it's in the formal structure now yes so we will add that back in it will accommodate it now but we'll add it back in back to the question of of entry into school um and some instead of a giftedness just to read from part of the act now um for example a child normally a child of 11 years or older would be admitted to secondary school but a younger child might be admitted if they had consistently high performance in annual examinations as key assessments on the recommendation of teachers so there is some flexibility to recognize giftedness to consider an entry into secondary school as an example with regard to your question about positive behavior in the national code of conduct absolutely it's aligned the emphasis on positive behavior interventions and supports in the national code also restorative justice we've introduced in school suspensions to provide an alternative to having students out of school for misbehavior so we've added a number of supports and we've talked a lot about educational psychosocial supports including behavioral supports and the teaching of behavioral expectations so all of that is aligned with positive behavior um in the in the practice of the ministry excellent i'm happy to hear that thanks you're welcome next slide please paul um actually you we've got some comments here as well okay with the removal of corporal punishment in schools we have seen an increase in negative student behavior is there any consideration in the education act to reintroduce such method even if a limited capacity where even in a limited capacity where perhaps only the principal or such can administer such disciplinary measures we have that's a that's a very thoughtful question we haven't introduced reintroduced corporal punishment but what we have added based on concerns expressed by many people we consulted with was a provision that if the safety and security of a school is threatened if a student for example brings weapons to school or illegal drugs or is threatening harm to people the teachers and the principals now have the authority to search a student's backpack or locker or person um and to seize illegal drugs or weapons so they do have that power there is still a provision in the act um there's in school suspension out of school suspension there is still a provision for expulsion for repeated misbehavior of a very serious nature when all other supports have been you know exhausted there's still is provision in the act for expulsion as well so there are a number of attitudes of avenues rather not attitudes avenues to address very serious misbehavior that threatens the safety and security of people at school and i think that responds to the next point which was what about students who pose a continuous threat to school security and safety and under perform performed but are not reached have not reached the age of 17 so there is a there is an avenue there for expulsion theories okay and one more um love this format format where pre-k would be introduced in the primary schools i think that was for uh sofia um uh what about oops uh this question is uh what about management joint board for example if a propriety have more than one school and rather than having an individual board for each school a joint board is established it seems that that is not in the draft so uh if i'm interpreting interpreting this correctly is it possible to have a management board for more than one school i would have to check on that the wording uh from from my work with it is more about one school but that's another really good point that we can look into that's a really good point for us to consider when we're looking at our final revisions to the draft and uh question would the application for permit to operate a private school detail the requirements for operating such a school that is spelled out in the education act the requirements for operating a private school and there's more information provided about that in the regulations as well same for a denominational school so we have provided detail uh please place in the act provisions for parents to take parenting classes especially for those parents who refuse to take responsibility for their children's behavior and blame teachers and schools well in the act we do have rights and duties of students and parents and parents do have responsibilities uh around um promoting positive behavior cooperating with teachers in the provision of their child's education so there are duties spelled out in the act uh for both parents and students and the emphasis is on collaboration and communication between the home and school that everybody has a role to play and so we have highlighted that in the act and I would add to that that the proposed new parent teacher community association would be of tremendous help in that regard yes absolutely uh another comment my comment's just moved in terms of in terms of in terms of uh searching bags I believe depending on the circumstances the teacher should seek assistance from the police there is a section in the act that states the obligation to report to police immediately any illegal activity so that is clearly stated in the act but I think the the spirit of the ability to have school administrators give the right for search and seizure is that it may be a circumstance where the police cannot be there quickly enough that's right when there's an imminent threat to the safety and security of students or staff or or a student is threatening to harm themselves police may not be able to get there quickly enough and so now the administrators and the teachers have the authority to act as it relates to school security has any consideration been made to increase the number of security guards on duty during the school day that is a personnel issue that would be addressed by the ministry they would look at at their hiring practices but it's not something that would be addressed in an education act because numbers like that change over time so it's not something that would be included in the act and a person still having difficulty finding the act on the websites or facebook pages I think if you go to equip facebook equip you will find it there the question why not employ actual security officers at the school instead of watchmen many schools have elderly watchmen who can get seriously hurt in the event of break-ins or school fights again that's a staffing matter I believe Monica that is a ministry human resources matter yes and does the education act address in any manner form parent teachers association it does and they've now expanded to become parent teacher community associations so we've made provisions for them in the act and the regulations and also for a national council of parent teacher community associations and does the act address issues of reintegration of students so just for clarification is that reintegration after a suspension and out-of-school suspension I'm just wondering reintegration after expulsion I think Sophia speaks to the idea of perhaps train who may have dropped out because I notice we spoke about expulsion but when we talk about reintegration and reducing dropout we look at perhaps that maybe the standard secondary school might not be appropriate for a child and that we need to provide alternative educations although we spoke about tivet this is just one pathway and so if a child has dropped out sometimes we have children who for whatever socioeconomic reason may have dropped out to school and need to come back in and sometimes that is difficult so is there anything that speaks to reintegration of children who may have left the system and need to get back into the system and it doesn't necessarily mean I get the feeling that we when we speak about the education we think of just the standard secondary schools but I believe the act should probably speak to alternative offerings of education that may not necessarily be going in and doing a standard cxc so does the act speak to that at all it does in the definitions alternative education has been spelled out and to your point Sophia it's not it tivet is one form but there are many different forms and so in the definitions it points out that alternative education provides non-traditional routes for students to successfully complete school including training to enter various occupations it's it's wide and also in the body of the act in the different types of education that the minister can authorize alternative education is listed there we're also looking at strengthening the statement about alternative education to include it in the national curriculum so it is something that has been added and we're looking at emphasizing that even more because it is so important for so many students it really is a lifeline for them to complete school and then successfully enter the workforce so therefore there is there an explicit statement about reintegration no so we wouldn't look at that as well yeah that might be a gap somebody might get pregnant somebody might have dropped out for financial economic reasons and a year later they decide they are not 17 yet and want to come back into school and we've had cases like that and it's very difficult to get them back in especially children who perhaps just dropped out for whatever reason it is even the principal sometimes don't want to take them back and so I feel the act should have some explicit statement about that thank you very much and for the question raised about that if I might comment on that that is why the special education needs an inclusive education council is so broad because that is a place where that would fall quite naturally because if a person's coming in to be reintegrated for whatever reason then they might need the special provisions that would come through that newly formed council or the rights represented through that newly formed council and things like an IEP or alternate education those sorts of things would I think am I not right Monica fall into that they could certainly fall under there they could fall under alternative education it's also about prohibition against discrimination that's another big area here that we're touching on that a student can't be denied an education because they're pregnant so those are things this is really helpful conversation for us to be even more explicit in the draft about these issues it's that's very important and Juliet Julieta I see you've had your hand up please go ahead yes I needed to ask are there like clear guidance in the revised act for students who have completed the primary program and have been exempted from writing CPA is it left to the discretion of the CEO to have them remain at the primary school until it's 17 or should there be a discussion as to what is the best alternative for the students thanks that's that's a really good question I don't have an answer for that I'll have to look that up I don't believe that's explicitly addressed in the act we do talk about age of entry we talk about those examinations but that particular exemption is not addressed to my knowledge no so we'll have to look and see how the act deals with that question these are very very helpful questions and comments can I can I just say here that I think the ministry is very much aware probably when we look at inclusive education this is why training has been given to a number of cousins so that and the ministry working along with the Center for Adolescent Development some students are now being schooled at care because of their academic performance during the CPA they are not just left out there they are not left in the school to 17 or anything like that so I think this has been addressed we will look very closely to see whether we are specific in the act about those kids but I'm always when we are doing the Education Act we remember the education for all that St. Ruscha has signed into we also remember the rights of the child and all that is encompassed within statements within the Education Act everything cannot be spelled out in the Education Act so we have supporting codes and regulations so I think we are moving in that direction I was glad that when Sophia mentioned reintegration of students because this reintegration of a child who has been pregnant has been in operation in St. Ruscha for years now yes there are some principals who are not guided accordingly but I know students have been returned to the schools and there has been discussions on do they wish to return to the same school where they were or would they like to transition to another school so these are all healthy discussions that we are having thank you Monica thank you Fortuna so there's there are more message okay can we just skip ahead to the next slide Paula there's nothing it's just discussion okay great because we're having this discussion um go ahead Paula please with the next comments or questions thank you um the this is a comment uh I believe school safety officers should be carrying dual roles as caretakers of school safety is left at risk and then a question is there specific reference provision for how parents who neglect their responsibilities and as outlined in the Act should be dealt with um there are some provisions in the Act for example if a parent fails to support their child's attendance at school there are some provisions spelled out in the Act in the event that a parent doesn't support their child's attendance at school but with regard to the other responsibilities there are no specific consequences spelled out I would point out that this is a step ahead in terms of spelling out duties and rights of parents and students in more detail so it's it's a discussion point um but no the only provision I can think of is the one around student attendance if the parent fails to support it then there are consequences for that but not for other aspects has any provision been made for schools with dormitories there hasn't been explicit reference to schools with dormitories as I mentioned we've addressed denominational private assisted public all different kinds of schools but not specific reference to those with dormitories no just just finding more of the comments here there is um how can the Act make provisions for parent teacher association and not address security the government has repeatedly state how important education is for the future of the country securing is very important do you have a comment on that yes the act does speak explicitly to the safety and security of students and staff and it spells out the importance of it and protecting it and the national code of conduct one of the goals of the national code is the protection of the safety and security of students and staff so it is explicitly addressed and emphasized and as mentioned some time ago the authority to protect the safety and security of the schools is spelled out in the act as well so it is it is a huge issue it is a growing concern that many people share and it is addressed in the act and in the national code of conduct and for clarification what is the defining difference between teacher and educator under under the rights and responsibilities of educator educators the act refers to rights of educator but duties of teacher great question so an educator is any professional um any education professional appointed to a formal role in a school so that could be a principal a vice principal a teacher a school counselor they are all different kinds of educators so our early childhood educators who do the preschool and early childhood education programs and pre-kindergarten programs educator is a broad term a teacher a principal a vice principal they all fall under it so it's kind of an umbrella term um and it just says they should this person says they should take a kid back if they want to come back and don't discriminate we would agree what about the issue of exporting bad behavior of both students and teachers to new schools I guess that would relate to transfer transferring students and teachers between to between schools um generally speaking uh in my experience with regard for example to a student who's suspended it's it's the case that a student who is suspended from one school should not be just show up at another school the suspension was issued for a reason um so that question has been raised with regard to suspension um and it's something we're going to have to look into in more detail also with regard to the ministry rules and school rules around suspension so that that issue has been raised and that's another point that we are looking at to get more detail and a better picture of what's happening right now I don't know Sophia if you wanted to speak to that but that that is an issue that has come to our attention that we need more information on Monica it sounds like the question targeted um permanent transfer from one school to the next there is a situation sometimes if a child has displayed problematic behavior over an extended period of time in one school then that child is permanently transferred to another school and sometimes it also happens with teachers who get transferred from one school to another I'm assuming that this is what the person was speaking about and asking whether such is addressed in the act thank you for the clarification I know that is not addressed in the act so thank you for for clarifying that and to the person who raised the point these are all really helpful um pointers that we need to follow up on and then there's a question doesn't the care program come at a cost to the parents uh not go ahead well that's alternative education and I don't uh I think the act refers to alternative education the act doesn't refer to specific programs like care no it doesn't it's that broad umbrella term of alternative education um is there financial provision for those students who would do better with alternative education that is not spelled out in the act about the any financial provisions um so that that's not a point that's been addressed in the act no and where other legislation covers areas that should be of concern it should be mentioned in the education act if not entirely at reference to the act in the question and session sections I think that's referring to where for example other legislation because the education act obviously speaks to education and if there are is other legislation for example human rights or something else that is covered it should be cross referenced I think is what this person is saying to the education act it should be mentioned that it's covered in another act or another legislation that that is a good point there are some references in the act for example to the cross reference to the the liquor control act or the constitution with regard to appointment of senior ministry leaders there are some cross references but I appreciate that the point about there may be additional areas that need to be flagged Sophia I'm wondering if the act speaks to I know this may be a curriculum issue but I know over the years we've had many questions as it relates to comprehensive sexuality education whilst we have signed on to some international agreements which speaks to that we do not deliver comprehensive sexuality education in St Lucia and one of the explanations that have been used in the past is that age of consent is 16 and the education after age of compulsory school education was 15 and so therefore there would have been certain topics that we would not address because children have not yet reached the age of sexual consent given the fact that now the act addresses students up until it's 17 it means therefore that we are also addressing children who have reached the age of consent and so I'm not sure if there's anything in the act that speaks to that or is it something that would have to sit or reside within a curriculum policy because this is not just an issue for us on the national level but also we are required to report internationally on such issues thank you for the question so I've just turned to the regulations the section on the national curriculum and the regulations and at the secondary level it includes provision for family studies personal development and relationships so those are two categories that it might fall under and also so that's in forums one to three in forums four and five again there's a provision for families studies personal development and relationships so I'm it may fall under those headings to the it's not explicitly stated but those are the headings that might accommodate it thanks it does not explicitly stated and so that might still be an area a contentious area thank you thank you Monica you're welcome Sophia okay question is there anything in the act mandating vaccination for entry there is a stipulation in the act for admission to school requiring proof of vaccination and that that is in the section on student admission to school so it is an issue that is referenced in the act there's also reference made in the act to contagious diseases and the conditions under which for example a child who has a contagious disease cannot attend school while while still infected with that disease so immunization and contagious diseases are both referenced in the education act in it is my opinion that in today's society every school needs its own counselors does the education act speak towards any such things regarding school counselors well we have added school counselors to the act they are very important in terms of service provision especially for educational psychosocial supports and we with regard to giving for example a ratio of how many counselors per students that is not typically put in an act that's another staffing or hiring issue for the ministry of education as to how they determine how many counselors are allocated to the different schools I think this consultation is very beneficial to all stakeholders and I benefited tremendously but I believe there are a few important points left out and discussion should continue I can assure you discussions continuing for the next two weeks so please anyone who wants to continue the discussion they're most welcome to do so and persons who impact students at schools are very broad does the education act have anything about the the roles and responsibilities of the cooks janitors and caretakers who are directly in contact with the students no it doesn't address the the duties of support staff in schools there is some reference made for example with regard to school bus drivers that students have to follow their direction but other than that there really isn't specific description of those duties but they are also responsible through the code of conduct are they not they are members of the school community yes they are what about the right of the individual if they don't want their child to have a vaccination well we're looking at when exemptions might be referenced so we're looking right now that's a topic that we're looking into for example on religious grounds or if there were extenuating circumstances for example if a doctor determined that a child couldn't have a vaccination because of health concerns then that would be looked at so we're looking at adding language to the act around the grounds for exemptions and the last concept comment in the chat was great questions participants so i that that's the conclusion of anything that's in the in the chat great so we're over time and i apologize but it's a wonderful conversation we're happy to stay late if we could go to the next slide please paul so we really want to end the the night on a on a very positive note and we want to hear from you if you want to put it in the chat or go to the mic what are your top priorities that need to be addressed in the draft act and regulations now that you've seen the overview what do you think is most important for us to focus on that's the first question and the second one is what do you hope will come out of the draft act and the regulations what changes do you hope to see as a result of the the draft act and regulations so we'd really like to hear from you in the chat on the mic if anyone is brave enough to go to the mic we really like to hear what you think the top priorities are that need to be addressed in in the act and regulations so we have another question monica is there anything in the act that enforces students after school for not roaming streets in school uniform no there is a provision in the national code of conduct that students have to follow the code of conduct while on school premises and at school sponsored events but with regard to after hours around the weekends during those times that the principal and teachers don't have control over students so it's not part of the act or the regulations monica i just want to say um in reference to this question why does they don't have jurisdiction over the children after school generally if the children are in school uniform out of the compound it's there is still regulations that we tend to have it's an official policy so perhaps that's what they're speaking to because once the children are in uniform they're still like them being part of the school even though they're off the compound and so perhaps in the code of conduct there should be some statement to that and that's an issue that's come up that we've had a lot of discussion about Sophia and the question there is how would it how would it be enforced would principals be responsible if students misbehaved at a store or at a dance on a Saturday night and what would that mean so um it's an issue that we've heard about and we need to dig into more as well thanks for that feedback okay um just in terms of uh what people would like to see um uh school safety and security bullying parent teacher community is one uh and there is a question here but the issue of uh discipline and security is a prime priority for me um and there is a question does the act speak to the increasing the number of school attendance officers currently there was one position for the entire island it doesn't speak to a set number but the role of school attendance counselor has been altered to be school attendance officer and if the way that it's written the description of the school attendance officers duties it could certainly apply to more than one attendance officer so we've we've used plurals so that there can be more than one but we there's no recommendation of a number of them because again that's a staffing decision for the ministry and uh in answer to question two on the slide um the person suggests that the education act move beyond draft in due time um in terms of priority sensitivity by teachers to special needs students basic teacher training on recognizing and handling special needs employment of special needs teachers and education specialists uh education for children on the topic of special needs and how does to be sensitive to it and letting them know that not all kids are the same and it's okay to be different and that the person said responsibilities of students in order to gain access student rights duties of all staff in shaping the curriculum a definition description of the ideal school graduate and someone else indicated discipline of students so some recurring topics there yeah and again another one school safety and security all forms teacher parents support and discipline of students so that this is really speaking to the national code of conduct and and and emphasizing the importance of school safety and security and that question does the act speak to the protection of teachers from violent students well the national code of conduct certainly speaks to unacceptable behavior including assault and so um that is that is explicitly prohibited so uh for teachers who might be subjected to that that is prohibited and there are consequences so we really are trying to in the national code of conduct promote positive behavior and behavior supports but we also recognize there is misbehavior that has to be responded to with significant consequences and they are spelled out in the code and that's the last I think of the comments okay so can we go to our closing slides we apologize for being over time but it's an excellent conversation that we really appreciate it and you've highlighted some key topics that we're digging into more so what are the next steps what happens after this well the questions and comments provided by you at this town hall meeting and the other meetings that we're going to chair are being recorded and analyzed to identify the main topics and issues that you have raised so what is of greatest concern to you the members of the public these topics and issues will be addressed in the validation and finalization of the draft education act and regulations and then we will submit a final draft an accompanying report that will be prepared and submitted so the town hall meetings are happening this week and next week and we will be working on addressing all these issues that have been raised and preparing a final draft and report to go to the ministry of education for consideration and Monica there's a comment here and this is indicative of some of the challenges that we've faced it is stated that once students are in transit to and from school and are in school uniform it's the responsibility of the school I believe that this needs to be changed it should be the responsibility of the parents when they are in transit to and from the school so we have varying opinions on that we have heard very different opinions on who's responsible for student behavior at different points during the day and on the weekends we certainly have and the act must speak to the new pathways in education and all the facets that accommodate these paradigm shifts and I think we've certainly discussed that this evening and I'm just going a desired inclusion inclusion for the act parent support structures and I think that's it okay next slide please paul sure so we're we're going to turn it back to mrs. joseph to provide some closing remarks and we're going to end with one more slide with a thank you I want to pause here and thank everyone so sincerely for your participation tonight and for all the issues that you've raised it's been very very helpful and we really appreciate you taking the time on behalf of paula and fortuna and myself thank you so very much and we'll turn it over to mrs. joseph for some closing comments thank you monica um I don't want to be long because we have way past our time um we um participants we you have seen that the revised education act is actually to bring our education act to um to the needs of contemporary education so and I was really impressed with the the um the discussion the questions the comments so I want to I want to first thank the facilitators mrs paula mbukinan mrs fortuna anthony and ms dr monica williams for facilitating this consultation as well as the smooth presentation of the revised education act you were able to address the questions very well and provide much clarity to the questions asked of you to the participants I want to thank you for your presence thank you for the interaction thank you for the questions and I do hope I think we if we have some more time we will get more questions I don't know if it is possible that after you have gotten access to the education act that you can there is some way some place that you can put in more comments or more questions to the panel so again I want to thank you very much for the discussion thank you for your participation and do have a blessed evening so again thank you everyone that's it good night good night good night everyone good night to you good night mrs manuel edithy manuel good night thank you good night mrs thank you everyone good night good night good night good night good night everyone thank you