By Admin. Updated 3:25 p.m., Friday, January 24, 2025, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).
The Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines decided to strengthen the Education Revolution by allocating a budget of 251 million dollars to the Education Sector – “ the highest ever in the history of the country”, the Office of the Prime Minister said in an article released today.
In the article, the Government stated stated that there are four (4) fresh initiatives in the 2025 budget for education.
The article announced:
First, the scale of the proposed expansion in every material particular in Post-Secondary (SVG Community College), and Tertiary (University) Education is unprecedented in its ambition to lift quantity and quality. This sub-sector of Education has had its recurrent allocation jump by $15 million, from $45 million in 2024 to $60 million in 2025 — an increase of 33 percent.
The relevant details are as follows: (i) Contribution to the SVG Community College, from $16.5 million in 2024 to $23.5 million in 2025; Tertiary training allocation at the Chief Personnel Office, from $22 million to $30 million in 2025; and (ii) the contribution to the University of the West Indies of $6.5 million.
As the Prime Minister outlined in his contribution to the Budget Debate last week, the SVGCC is embarking on a massive expansion of fit-for-the-market programmes on the area of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), inclusive of access to many of these programmes for students who do not traditionally meet the entry qualifications for the existing TVET programmes at the College. At the same time, the Adult and Continuing Education (ACE) department of the Ministry of Education continues with its array of skills training programmes.
On the capital side of the Budget 2025, there are four “higher education” capital projects touching and concerning Equipment Purchase for SVGCC ($50,000, mainly for TVET); Infrastructure Improvement for SVGCC ($1.66 million of which $423,416 has been spent thus far); ICT Improvement for SVGCC ($776,000); and the Establishment of a Modern Science and Innovation Laboratory ($400,000 to undertake designs for construction).
Secondly, a fresh initiative in Budget 2025 embraces our ambition to enroll, instruct, and certify even greater numbers of young persons in technical and vocational subject areas. This ambition has produced a $1.6 million allocation to fund a programme called Skills Training for Employment and Professional Success (STEPS).
As the Minister of Finance outlined in his Budget Address, the STEPS initiative will provide students enrolled in any relevant TVET programmes at the Technical Institutes and the TVET Division of the SVGCC with a modest stipend to cover basic costs associated with attendance and participation. This initiative will place greater emphasis on taking students from Level I certification to Level II, III, and beyond.
The third fresh initiative relates to the Mathematics Improvement Programme (MIP). The MIP will facilitate after-school classes in Mathematics for students in grades 5 and 6 of primary school and forms 4 and 5 of secondary schools mainly in 2025, the MIP will pay Math teachers to conduct weekly, mandatory classes for all students in the targeted grades and forms. When fully implemented, the MIP will provide students with more than 30 additional hours of instruction in Mathematics each academic year.
The fourth fresh initiative in Education in 2025 involves the provision of 2,700 laptops (ASUS Vivobook G0 15) at a cost of over $3 million to 5th form secondary and 2nd year SVGCC students and teachers. These laptops will bring to over 61,000 laptops and tablets distributed to students in SVG between 2011 and 2025.
Additionally, the article said that the National Lotteries Authority (NLA) will spend at least $5 million in 2025 on Carnival, Sports and Cultural activities, and capital sports projects. Further, the NLA will spend over $3 million in educational support for young persons in 2025.
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