Primary school curriculum to be reviewed

Basseterre, St. Kitts (CUOPM) – The primary school curriculum in St. Kitts is to be reviewed to ensure that it remains relevant to the needs of society and the ambitions of the nation’s students.

Minister of Education and Information, Sen. the Hon. Nigel Carty said Cabinet ministers were advised that since the development of the present curriculum for primary schools between 2000 and 2003, there has not been a review of the curriculum.

“It has been generally recommended that there should be a systematic and holistic review of the curriculum every few years to ensure that the curriculum remains relevant to the needs of society and the ambitions of our students,” said Mr. Carty, who noted that in recent years teachers and other educators have identified a number of challenges with the present curriculum especially with regard to the scope and sequence of the content for a number of subjects.

“The Ministry of Education believes that these issues need to be addressed in a timely manner in an effort to further improve the quality of education in schools. Better curriculum guides should improve both teaching and learning and reduce academic failure and related social ills,” said Mr. Carty.

He disclosed that in preparation for the Curriculum Development Unit (CDU) to undertake the necessary review of the curriculum, training workshops were held with a wide cross-section of key stakeholders in the latter half of 2013.

“The primary school curriculum review exercise aims to produce a revision of the curricula for the following subject matters: language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Technology, and Social Studies,” said Minister Carty, who disclosed that during Wednesday’s cabinet meeting, extra-budgetary support for the first phase of the curriculum review exercise was approved.

Deputy Prime Minister Martin, who chaired that session, emphasised that the education of the nation’s citizens is critically important and that every effort must be made to improve quality.