By Admin. Updated 5:55 a.m., Friday, October 23, 2026, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).
J’nya Pemberton of the St Vincent Girls’ High School (GHS) is the 2026 champion of the Lions Club St Vincent South/FLOW Secondary Schools Public Speaking Competition.
Pemberton won the title at the final on Thursday night, October 22, at the Methodist Church Hall in Kingstown. She also won the main speech category, the student Prepared Speech, and the impromptu category. For the main speech, she secured victory with an address that asked whether small countries like St Vincent and the Grenadines risk being left behind in the age of artificial intelligence (AI).
In the overall results, Tayshon Ollivierre of the St Vincent Grammar School placed second. Vonte Horne of the Emmanuel High School Mesopotamia was third.
The other three finalists were Jolisha Bailey of St Joseph’s Convent Marriaqua, Rachel Mitchell of the Canouan Secondary School and Diandra Shepherd of the Thomas Saunders Secondary School.
A tough and timely topic
The six finalists had to tackle a demanding and very current topic: “Globally, Countries are Slow in Formulating the Appropriate Framework to Leverage AI Capability to Improve Productivity.”
They received it earlier this month. On October 6, the students, each with a teacher from their school, met organisers at the Computec Conference Room. There, organisers announced the topic, explained the format of the final and set the speaking order.
Each finalist delivered three speeches: a main prepared speech of up to 10 minutes, a student-prepared speech of up to five minutes, and an impromptu speech. For the impromptu round, speakers had one minute to consider the topic and no more than two minutes to present. Anyone who used less than eight minutes for the main speech lost five points. Speakers were allowed to use prepared notes. During the main speeches, finalists who had not yet spoken waited outside the hall.
“Same technology, very different opportunities”
Pemberton opened her main speech by asking the audience how many of them had used AI, perhaps to write a lesson plan or complete an assignment “that was supposedly done independently”.
She then drew a contrast. While a Vincentian student asks ChatGPT to explain quadratic equations, she said, a farmer in Denmark is using AI to monitor the health of her cows.
“Same technology, very different opportunities,” she said.
Her short answer to the topic was that there is no one-size-fits-all response, because nations stand in very different positions. She challenged two assumptions in the topic: that countries are moving at the same pace with AI, and that AI is being deployed everywhere without safeguards. Neither, she argued, is entirely true.
“The reality is that some countries are already racing ahead utilising the benefits of artificial intelligence while others are still trying to find their running shoes,” she said.
She built her case around three factors of production: land, labour and capital.
On land, she pointed to AI-guided crop spraying in the United States and asked the audience to picture a local farmer whose dasheen crop is threatened by disease. AI monitoring could catch such problems early and strengthen food security, she said, but the cost of equipment, unreliable internet and lack of training still stand in the way in developing countries.
On labour, she cited South Korea’s high level of factory automation and International Monetary Fund estimates that AI could affect about 60 per cent of jobs in advanced economies, compared with 26 per cent in low-income countries. She made it personal. Many students her age will sit CSEC examinations in a few months.
“When we leave school, will our qualifications even be enough? How many robots will I be competing against?” she asked.
She also noted that AI can support human work, including in medicine, the field she hopes to enter.
On capital, she referred to a 2025 World Bank report showing that high-income countries dominate AI infrastructure and innovation.
Turning to safeguards, Pemberton noted the European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act, Singapore’s rules for responsible AI use in financial institutions, UNESCO’s 2024 Caribbean Artificial Intelligence Policy Roadmap, and CXC’s changes to school-based assessment in response to generative AI.
“If ChatGPT writes an entire SBA, whose work are we really assessing?” she asked, before adding that changing assessments cannot be the region’s only response.
She called on CARICOM and the OECS to make AI a serious regional economic priority, rather than leaving each island to struggle alone.
“We may be small individually, but that does not mean we must think small collectively,” she said.
She closed with a line that drew the night’s theme together: the future, she said, should not only belong to those who can afford the technology, but “must belong to those who cannot afford to be left behind”.
High-powered judging panel
Four judges scored the competition. They are Petrus Gumbs, Chief Executive Officer of the National Centre of Technological Innovation (NCTI) and founder of STEM SVG; Julian Doyle, an immigration officer with more than 15 years at the Passports and Immigration Department and president of Southeast Development Incorporated; Kendall Morgan, a media and communications consultant with more than 40 years in the field and chairman of the NBC Radio board, and Carla James, Executive Director of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and a former magistrate.
The finalists were competing for the Lion Michael De Freitas Challenge Trophy and other prizes.
Minister proud of participants
Education Minister Phillip Jackson congratulated all the participants.
“Congratulations to the finalists of the SVG National Public Speaking Competition. Congratulations to the Champion, J’nya Pemberton of the GHS! I am so proud of all of you! Continue to excel and bring others along with you…,” Jackson posted.
The Lions Club St Vincent South stages the annual competition in partnership with the Ministry of Education. Telecommunications provider FLOW sponsors it.
The club is an affiliate of Lions Clubs International and has served communities in St Vincent for 48 years. Its service area runs from Calliaqua to Fancy. Its programmes cover cancer awareness, diabetes, vision care, environmental and climate action, hunger and homelessness, and youth and sustainable empowerment.
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