BASSETERRE: A cohort of special education teachers assembled at the St. Kitts Cooperative Credit Union’s Conference Room on Thursday, to participate in a one-day UNESCO Media Information Literacy (MIL) Training for Educators. The activity conducted in a hybrid format was hosted by the Government of Antigua and Barbuda and catered to educators in St. Kitts and Nevis as well as Grenada.
The learning objective of this session centered around instructing educators on ways to improve their professional growth using MIL while championing the use of Google Classroom to promote classroom inclusivity, thereby enriching the teaching and learning environment and facilitating remote learning.
Hon. Dr. Geoffrey Hanley, Minister of Education, in an address emphasized the importance of technology and educational integration as a catalyst for inclusive classrooms adaptive to students with disabilities.
“Education is our first line of defense in the fight against misinformation. In a world where a single post can shape minds faster than a textbook chapter, media information and literacy is no longer an extra subject. It is a life skill. It is how our youth learn to question, to verify, to think critically, and to use digital spaces to build, not destroy. That responsibility is even greater when we speak of inclusion. Every child deserves the tools to navigate this digital world safely and confidently – including students with physical and learning disabilities.
Dr. Hanley shared the preceding speakers’ views on the educational advantage of the training.
“Training educators of children with special needs in media and information literacy is not optional- It is essential. It means ensuring our hearing-impaired students can evaluate online sources through visual tools. It means our students with learning disabilities get adaptive strategies to spot fake news and protect their mental health online. It means every classroom, virtual or physical, becomes a space where no child is left behind in the digital age.”
H.E. Ambassador Nerys Dockery, Secretary-General of the St. Kitts-Nevis National Commission for UNESCO, reaffirmed how essential Media Information Literacy is to help learners navigate the current digital landscape, articulated.
“It gives me great delight to be part of this distinguished roster addressing you this morning about a topic that is so timely. As you have heard, Media Information Literacy has never been more urgent than it is today. With a single scroll, our students are exposed to floods of content, some truthful, some misleading, and much of it is designed to provoke rather than inform. If they cannot pause, question sources, and recognize manipulation, misinformation spreads faster than facts and shapes how they see themselves, their community, and the world.”
Ambassador Dockery conveyed words of gratitude to UNESCO’s Regional Office for the Caribbean and reinforced the benefits derived from the MIL workshop.
“I would like to thank the Regional UNESCO Office for providing this opportunity to join Antigua and Barbuda and others in this workshop. Training teachers of students with special needs in Media Information Literacy is especially vital because these learners often face extra barriers to accessing, processing, and verifying information. When we equip our educators with MIL tools and inclusive strategies, we give every child, regardless of ability, the confidence to think critically, stay safe online and become responsible digital citizens.”
Topics the training focused on were Media Information Literacy Awareness, Curriculum and Policy, Creating and Managing Classes using Google Classroom, and Enhancing Student engagement and communicating remotely in real-time.