Education Minister says White Paper issues relevant in regional education strategy

Education Minister Carty

(EMU)- St. Kitts, May 25, 2012: Despite varying stages of achievement in developing and implementing National Education Sector Plans, Minister of Education and Information in St Kitts and Nevis, Hon. Nigel Carty says his counterparts in the Region have committed to employing the recommendations of the Regional Education Sector Strategy optimally.

Coming out of a meeting of OECS Ministers of Education which took place on May 23-24, Minister Carty said, “In St Kitts and Nevis, we have agreed to look at our strategy as it is now and try to do whatever tweaking or adjusting to bring it into harmony with the strategy we just agreed upon. We agreed because we see it as the right way to go.”

Minister Carty divulged that St. Kitts and Nevis is three years into the implementation of its latest educational policy termed the ‘White Paper on Education and Policy2009-2019.’

The underlying theme of the White Paper is “Raising the Standard, Maximizing Resources. Aligning with Best Practices, Promoting Success For All.”

The Regional Strategy discussed at the meeting addressed a common issue which was pinpointed by the Minister. “What we think needs to happen is greater harmonization amongst Nation States as they approach agencies for funding in a variety of areas.”

The Minister identified the Child Friendly School Initiative as an example of an area in which the local Ministry of Education needs to make progress and to seek to incorporate into their strategy paper.

Commenting on the fear of some individuals regarding regional integration of policies, Minister Carty said harmonization is not the same as carbon copying. He said, rather, that it was “all players recognizing the broader objectives and working to achieve them together.”

He specified that in the implementation process what that meant is that every country would engage in activities and pursue initiatives in a manner suitable to their specific situations while maintaining focus on the broad objective.

The Education Minister said the Regional Strategy is a synthesis of the real concerns common in the Sub-Region and although each may not have identical challenges there really is not such an extensive and expansive separation of the issues.

Minister Carty said his ministry is committed to the timely and effective implementation of all key areas in pursuit of the advancement of Educational opportunities in St. Kitts and Nevis.