 Welcome to NTN Nightly, I am Anicia Antoine, this edition's top stories. The Sarfa Lois Community College transitions to online learning amid COVID-19. The St Lucia Tourism Authority adopts a more tailored approach to marketing the island and the 2020 National Arts Festival to be staged virtually. The Sarfa Lois Community College is finalised in arrangement for the new academic year in September. As is the case worldwide, with tertiary education institutions, the college has developed a COVID response policy in keeping with the guidelines set out by the ministries of health and education. A key element of the COVID response is the pivot to online learning. More now from Jesse Laos. Faculty of the Sarfa Lois Community College are currently being trained to manoeuvre the Moodle Learning Management System to facilitate remote learning this semester. Moodle is a learning platform designed to provide educators, administrators and learners with a single, robust, secure and integrated system to create personalised learning environments. The move to Moodle is part of the college's response to COVID-19 and minimizing the need for students to be at its north and south campus and form facility. Leading efforts to streamline South CC's online offering is institutional effectiveness manager Dr. Cathy James Springer. From a lot of the research that we did last semester that our faculty have challenges with regard to setting up and doing everything that they need to do online. We essentially have taken that approach where we're not going to leave any faculty member behind. Everybody is on board and everybody needs to move in that direction. And so what we have done is set up a month's training. We've actually pushed back the dates of reopening teaching so that we can spend enough time with faculty actually helping them develop their courses and set up their courses online. A two-week Moodle training for students has also been scheduled. This extended orientation and onboarding process will take place from September 7th to the 18th, 2020. Back in June, the college decided to pivot towards online instruction to reduce potential disruptive scenarios like disease outbreak or natural disaster. This for us is a really important dimension of the shift towards a new modality, a new mode of operation. In many respects, we have been moving in this direction already. What COVID has done is to accelerate that process. And so we think we're in a fairly good position. In fact, relative to some of my colleagues who I've been talking with in North America and Europe about what they're doing for their new academic year, I think we are in fairly good stead. That was College Principal Dr. Keith Nurse. In the meantime, practical learning at South CC, which includes labs, clinicals and field work, will continue as required. So the hard sciences, whether you do in the chemistry, physics, environmental studies, those courses which have technical or practical components in auto-mechanics, you would have to do garage work. In refrigeration, you may have to do work. The number of the culinary arts, you would have to do kitchen work. So a number of those courses have practical components, and so therefore the students would have to come to the campus to do that. And so waivers would be made for those students. Protocols for students and visitors who must visit a campus include the use of face masks except bandanas, hand sanitization at building entrances, and strict observance of social and physical distancing. Online classes at the college will officially begin September 21, 2020. For the Government Information Service, I am Jesse Leance reporting. The St. Lucia Tourism Authority has adopted a more tailored approach to marketing the island amid the challenges of COVID-19. Lisa Joseph explains. The reopening of St. Lucia's tourism sector, though a shadow of its pre-COVID performance, is showing promising signs of a steady rebound. The island averages 2,500 seats per week from international and Caribbean airlines. As more hotel properties open, the St. Lucia Tourism Authority, the SLTA, it starts with increasing the load factors. Beverly Nicholson-Dotty is the Chief Executive Officer. And so our sales team have been very diligent in working to re-educate the travel agent, the consumers, doing webinars, having sales calls. We've had to switch through virtual trade shows, but we at all times are pressing on ensuring that the messaging is on a very responsible way of marketing tourism. The appetite for travel remains lukewarm as countries around the world feel the impact of COVID-19. Restrictions, lockdowns, job losses in the millions, and health system pressures weigh on the decision of potential travellers. Tourism Minister Anval Dominic Fede says it is the reality that tourism officials must work through. As they look at what's going on in the world with this pandemic, the media coverage, I certainly not in favour of tourism. At this present time, when we look at what's happening in our source markets, you have travel restrictions in like Canada, for example, where Canadians returning back home would have a quarantine requirement. I always saw that the opening of certain European markets by one of our source markets, when they removed the quarantine requirement for some European countries, there was an outbreak in a particular European country, and that would not have sent a lot of confidence. So a lot of people, I believe, because of a host of issues are perhaps saying, let's wait this out, allow the virus, the global pandemic, to settle itself down. And I think that what we're seeing is most people are saying, you're better off doing something domestic, and then let's allow the global pandemic to settle down before we make plans about a vacation. It's very expensive to travel. The SLTA is continuing focus on the island's best niche markets, including honeymoon. Mrs. Nicholson-Doughty says there's evidence of market interests in St. Lucia, and the SLTA is using every avenue to keep the destination top of mind. While low factors at this time are not certainly where we don't want them to be, we're looking at what the future lies, and that pace is trending up in terms of inquiries about St. Lucia. Not COVID-specific. We have seen a 20% increase in people searching for St. Lucia on our website. And so that means that they're planning ahead. They're looking at what the possibilities are in terms of their travel. St. Lucia is top of mind. Our sales team is out there. We're really looking at family markets, wellness, our cultural and heritage events. These are all areas that people are inspired by. In January 2020, before COVID-19 unleashed, St. Lucia, for the first time in its history, recorded over 400,000 stay-over arrivals, an increase of 7.1% year-to-date. From the Government Information Service, Lisa Joseph reporting. The National Arts Festival will take place this year with a difference. The Cultural Development Foundation launched the event announcing its digital format due to COVID-19. The festival is an annual and unique celebration of St. Lucia's art history and features an eclectic mix of work from artists in various genres of the arts, including dance, theatre, literature, spoken word and visual arts. Executive Director of the Cultural Development Foundation, Ramona Henry-Winn, stated that this year will see an unprecedented change of dynamics in the organisation of the National Arts Festival due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We know that the world was going digital. A lot of the artists were going digital. So the CDF was forced to go in that direction to ensure that we delivered across the borders, bridging that divide. You know, a lot of young persons, when they hear the word cultural, it seems like something that they cannot identify with. And we thought this was the opportunity to put it out there digitally in a world that the younger persons can identify with in a way that they can understand and appreciate the work that CDF was doing. And we thought, what a wonderful opportunity and time to do this. The Cultural Development Foundation is working closely with community individuals and entities, as well as the corporate community to ensure the success of the arts festival. Ria Modest is a representative of the Horizon sponsor St. Lucia Electricity Services, Lucilek. We applaud the CDF for its own creativity in finding ways to continue its annual outreach. Despite the challenges that the COVID-19 has brought upon all of us. This is a tangible demonstration of the resilience of the creative arts and industries that has been as much a hallmark of their existence as the respective art forms themselves. In many ways, this commitment to deliver on your mandate against all odds reflects how we feel about what we do to be the energy that powers our nation's success day in, day out. 24-7, 3-65, or 3-66. So we're happy to be able to power outreach 2020. The official launch of the National Arts Festival took place on Thursday, August 27, 2020 at the Cultural Development Foundation headquarters. The contestants of the Miss Independence Pageant on Thursday gathered at the Prime Minister's official residence for their prize-giving ceremony. The nine beauties who graced the stage on February 15, 2020 for the staging of the Miss Independence Pageant happily gathered to receive their respective prizes six months after competition. The delay caused by COVID-19 did not lessen the significance of the moment. Mrs. Rosella King is the chairperson of the Miss Independence Pageant Committee. For the third consecutive year since this committee undertook the execution of the Miss Independence Pageant, it has continued to grow, not only in attendance numbers, but in caliber, class, and high standard. Again, ladies, this would not have been possible without your unwavering participation, which started officially with the sashing ceremony and ended with the crowning of our Miss Independence 2020, Akia Chico. The other contenders were Agnita Paul, Miss Miku, Ashley Evans, Miss Ansleray, Candice Jean, Miss Cassary Central, Damesha Theodor, Miss Choiselle, Elodie Octave, Miss Grosely, Nadej Maclaurin, Miss Cassary South, Nicole Harold, Miss Souffre, and Roche Sincere, Miss Canaries. The young ladies were encouraged to believe in themselves and become leaders in all aspects of their lives. You should use this opportunity you have afforded as a focus of national pride. You have been given the opportunity to enrich not only your own lives, but the lives of others. This is the perfect opportunity for you to fulfill your ambitions and develop yourself as human beings. You have been given the opportunity to serve as an ambassador within your communities and by extension your country. You may choose to do so by probably being part of a charitable organization, whether you become a member or just giving off your time and talent to the less fortunate in our community. Akia Chico on the night of competition took the crown home to library for the second consecutive time. Winning is an important thing, but the journey and the experience teaches you so much more. I have involved from a little shy girl into this confident and fearless young lady, mainly because of my participation in pageant shows. I have learned to set goals and go for them, but at the same time, be understanding and considerate about other people. My mom and the rest of the family are always supportive and they keep me grounded. I hope that my journey, which has just started, can be a motivation to other young ladies from my community library. After all, according to my former school principal, Mrs. Agatha Gepanel, library girls must shine. The experience, she says, has changed her life forever. The prize given ceremony was held at the official residence of the prime minister from the government information service. Lisa Joseph reports in. The Department of Infrastructure ports and energy inform residents of Saltibus, Jetwyn and Inverance of the commencement of a pipe relocation and replacement exercise. There is a collaborative intervention between the water and sewage company, Wasco, and the Department of Infrastructure as part of the ongoing Saltibus and Jetwyn roads reconstruction project. As a result, residents will experience periodic interruptions in their water supply. This pipe relocation and replacement exercise is scheduled to be undertaken over a period of three months. The Department of Infrastructure and Wasco apologizes to the residents of Saltibus and Jetwyn for inconvenience caused. This is NTN Nightly. Up next, Primus Hutchinson with the NTN Novella Quay All. With all that's happening around us, simple adjustments are necessary to keep us all safe. When calling 9-1-1, we may need a little more information to deploy the right personnel and protocols. You may be asked about your travel history, signs and symptoms, contact and movement history and whether others in your household are exhibiting similar symptoms. Please, be patient and cooperative during this time to ensure you receive the best possible care while keeping our first responders safe. Welcome back. We now join Primus Hutchinson for the NTN Novella Quay All. Thank you. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to inform you that the G.S. government and the National Television are holding a new NTN at the Quay All with Primus Hutchinson. I would like to inform you that the public in general is not afraid to attend school as they do in their social media. I would like to inform you that the school is not afraid to attend even before the students who are at school. since six applications have been accepted. This is the most important thing to address during the pandemic. For the students, follow E.T.I.D. by computer. For all programs, E.T.I.D. is a laboratory. It is a work that has led the whole college there. There is also a program here in Jalongiasso for the students to come far and operate. The program will start on September 18th. The program will start online on September 20th. The industry sector will continue to receive technical assistance from the Taiwan public. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, I affected the production of figs here. The government and the assistance from Taiwan will continue to produce figs in this sector so that they can continue to pursue acceptance and continue to pursue technical assistance by cultivating figs. This is an assistance linked to control and education to encourage farmers to come more sensitive to the production of figs at a higher degree. The fig production has a capacity of about $20 million per year. The Ministry of Agriculture, Barry Morfelsier, declared that the government will continue to work with the farmers in different ways so that they can help the family. More than 600 families in Cairo will benefit from education, health, and other benefits. According to Mr. Felsier, the farmers who also work a lot will benefit from the family. Since the world is working in this way, the FIGP program is at its best. The Ministry of Agriculture, for the moment, is working with the Ministry of Agriculture, to support the implementation of the figs and to control the crops, to control the malady black sugar trokka, to reduce the production of figs, to control the production of figs, to control the malady black sugar trokka, to reduce the production of figs, to control the malady black sugar trokka, to control the competition to control the social facilities. The Ministry of Agriculture, Péloïde, declared that the FIGP program will give the children plus 100 Ministry of Agriculture living out in the middle of the summer. These are the students who are in the village of Oslaway. I received a lot of assistance from the school, preparation for the summer school in Neffla. The Ministry of Tourism, which is also the representative of the Kaye Parliament, for Oslaway and Kanawi, we have Dominique Fede, from Kauraki. During this time, the ministry has done to assist the students. Please, there are 100,000 dollars to be spent to eat school, as it is not necessary to be represented. The Ministry of Agriculture also. The school in Oslaway, I received a computer again after a long time without a salary. He said, the parents also received assistance so that it was possible for them to go back to school. The Ministry of Agriculture also did to help the government to assist the students in Oslaway and Kanawi, through transportation, to react to school, as it is not necessary to be represented. We have also done to help the students to go back to school. This is the end of this video. Thank you so much for watching. I have a lot of invitation. I have been thinking about this for a long time. I will see you in the next video. I wish you all a good weekend's end. I wish you all a good weekend's end. I wish you all a good weekend's end. I wish you all a good weekend's end. I wish you all a good weekend's end. I wish you all a good weekend's end. Mercy Appalachus Primus That brings us to the end of NDR Nightly. Join us next time at 7pm with a repeat at 7am. You can also catch up with us anytime either on the same Lucia Government Facebook page or our YouTube channel. I am Anisa N2.