 Meeting with and providing a voice for stakeholders within the education sector is not being taken lightly by Education Minister Hon. Sean Edward. Minister Edward, into his third year as Minister, makes it a habit to meet with stakeholders during every term and when the need arises. The Minister meets regularly with school principals, providing a forum for them to speak on the issues they are faced with and to find solutions which lead towards the improvement of the educational environment and indeed the strengthening of the relationships between the ministry and school supervision. I'm on the record as stating that for us to effectively execute our mandate in the Ministry of Education, they must be buying from stakeholders. We cannot stay in our air-conditioned offices on the waterfront and program and plan for what happens in schools. The principals and the teachers, they are really the operational personnel in the system and they are the ones who would give expression to a lot of the policies that we formulate as a government, as a ministry. Minister Edward says the meeting with the NPA was very fruitful, touching on a range of topics including the ongoing school rehabilitation program and the possible reinstatement of principals' assistance, school security and safety and other areas critical to school operation. The meeting was a very fruitful one, very productive one and it was conducted in a spirit where both personnel from the Ministry of Education, namely the Chief, the Deputy Poverty Secretary, the Parliamentary Secretary and the Director of Works, representing the Ministry and of course myself along the President and the Executive. I mean the conversations were very very frank and as I said there was a very healthy atmosphere that gave rise to very meaningful discussion and I'm extremely pleased and I'm extremely buoyed also that 2 in the academic year 2023-2024 would be a very successful one. President of the National Principals Association of St. Lucia, Valerie St. Helen Henry says the NPA is always happy to get an audience with the minister and indeed senior ministry officials. The NPA President and her colleagues, preparing to host the organization's 40th annual conference in February, received an update on ongoing works being undertaken at schools on the island making some recommendations. One of the things we agreed on that there's need for a looking at a time frame where certain projects are accomplished within a period of time so principals would have an idea that hey these are my needs they are prioritized within a three-year period a five-year period they look at what is most important to deal with now and a gradual progress. Government is currently injecting millions of dollars into the rehabilitation of school plans on the island and much of the works required will according to the education minister be undertaken during instruction periods. The minister has requested the patients of school administration during this period as he says their support is integral to accomplishing the work program. It is expected that the ministry in the coming days will meet with other stakeholders including the St. Lucia Teacher's Union, the SLTU. From the communications unit of the Department of Education, Innovation and Vocational Training, I am Chris Satney reporting.