Educational Challenges in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Written by Aoibhínn Kiely

Introduction

The U.S. Virgin Islands are situated in the Caribbean Sea, located some 64 to 80 kilometres east of Puerto Rico. The region consists of three larger islands, St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John, and approximately 50 smaller cays and islets, amassing a total area of 133 square miles. Due to the inviting climate, the U.S. Virgin Islands attracts a large number of tourists each year, however tourism is one of the region’s only economic resources, and financial aid and funding is provided by the United States. The region is at risk for hurricanes, with an average of 5 passing the region yearly, and in September of 2017 the territory sustained extreme damage from a barrage of two Category 5 hurricanes within the span of two weeks. Irma and Maria together destroyed virtually all crops of St Croix and an estimated 90% of buildings in the territory were destroyed or severely damaged.  

Education in the U.S. Virgin Islands is compulsory and government-run schools operate for free. The Virgin Islands Department of Education runs 21 elementary schools, six middle schools and six high schools between two school districts spread between the three main islands. The territory also sports one university, The University of the Virgin Islands, a public liberal arts based university.  However, a great number of students attend private schools, and most of the families who relocate to the U.S. Virgin Islands opt to send their children to private or religious affiliated schools, who also charge a tuition fee. Educational challenges in the U.S. Virgin Islands are characterised by poor funding, staff shortages, and struggling infrastructure, causing huge barriers to adequate education for the working class population of the islands.  

Unsafe working (and learning) conditions  

The vast majority of those who relocate to the U.S. Virgin Islands will decide to send their children to a private school to receive their education. With the Peter Gruber International Academy, situated on St. Thomas, requiring annual tuition ranging from $13,150 to $21,000 excluding materials and accreditation fees, it is starkly obvious that this option is not for everyone. However, given the state of current affairs in public schools, there is no doubt as to why parents would go out of pocket to avoid their children attending the region’s public schools. In September 2023, teachers across St. Croix walked out of their classrooms in protest, claiming that the conditions they are expected to work in are untenable and entirely unsafe. The protesting teachers mention not only the long-standing issues of underfunding for the schools, but also sweltering temperatures that have to be endured in classrooms, many of which have no clean drinking water. This region, famous for its balmy temperatures, has schools operating without air conditioning. The response to this protest has been to implement schedule adjustments, enforcing earlier dismissal and shortened class periods for the schools on St. Croix. In effect, poor funding has caused policy makers to opt for less schooling hours as opposed to providing adequate equipment to the schools. 

Teachers are not the only individuals enraged by these conditions, as students took to the streets in protest of the unsafe conditions they are expected to learn and grow under. Students from two historically rivalling highschools put their differences aside as they called for immediate action from leaders. Devastating heat and lack of air conditioning were only the tip of the iceberg for these students, as placards being held high mentioned termites, mould, leaking ceilings, and other structural ailments concerned with the physical school buildings. Further prompting the action was the stark lack of funding for equipment and maintenance workers. School facilities in the U.S. Virgin Islands have sustained damage not only from the hurricanes in 2017, but also many in the 90s and less severe instances in 2021 and 2022. As a result the infrastructure must constantly be repaired and seen to, which these students believe is not being upheld on the side of maintenance due to exceedingly poor funding. One of the schools in which the students came from, Educational Complex High School, is used as a hurricane shelter, which the students reiterated, poor maintenance is not only an educational disadvantage but a genuine health and safety hazard for those living on the island. The students stood in unison demanding answers to where the large budgets dedicated to the Department of Education have been going, and hoping together that their action will spare future students on St. Croix from the conditions they have to currently endure.  

Where have all the teachers gone? 

Dr. Dionne Wells-Hedrington, commissioner of the Virgin Islands Department of Education cannot stress enough the risk that classrooms will not be filled when the 2023/2024 school year begins. With learning deficiencies in the region presenting themselves as a challenge at present, the 127 teachers reaching retirement age represent a looming loss to the educational system on the islands and a concerning prospect for the students. The school year 2022/2023 saw 33 teachers separate themselves from the department, expanding the 43 pre-existing teaching vacancies in the region. The strategy being employed by the department in an attempt to tackle this growing issue that has been used for years, to try to recruit teachers from outside the territory to fill the gaps. The Department has been driven to launch a special appeal to recruit degree holders and retired teachers to fill substitute teacher positions. The situation remains dire however with Wells-Hedrington informing lawmakers last year that nearly 200 teachers and support staff retired or resigned from the already struggling public school education system between June 2022 and August 2022. Furthermore, the number of non-certified professionals working in the public schools on the Islands far outnumber those certified, with only 228 certified professionals in comparison to 610 non-certified professionals.  Emmanuella Perez-Cassius, the Board of Educations Vice Chairwoman, is adamant that educators need to receive higher pay, consistent curriculum mandates and better working conditions.  

A storm of mental distress 

The Board of Educations Vice Chairwoman further remarked that schools are sorely lacking formal trauma and mental health alert systems for children who need aid with serious issues. The Islands align with national data, indicating that children in America are in the midst of a mental health crisis. St. Croix Foundation reported in 2021 that 22.5% of middle schoolers had “seriously considered suicide” and 33.5% of high school students “felt so sad or hopeless almost every day for two or more weeks that they stopped doing some usual activities”. As this data was collected in the aftermath of the aforementioned hurricanes, it was seen as a cry for help and a call to action for the community of the Islands, with special emphasis on the education system to support children struggling in the region.  

In July 2023 Perez-Cassius made it clear that schools are not up to date with critical information that can protect children from a mental health crisis. As a result she called for direct and ongoing communication between the Department of Education and Department of Health, as well as other organisations concerning treatments, school services, and awareness for students with escalating mental health concerns. The Vice Chairwoman additionally called for the implementation of training on trauma based interventions and approaches. Studies have suggested that students on the islands experience PTSD at a significantly higher level than the general population, and a lack of intervention from the education system is an unfortunate shortfall that devastatingly lets students, and teachers alike, down.  

Leadership for change  

Although there is no absence of challenges faced by those pursuing education through the system in the U.S. Virgin Islands, these very individuals have shown resilience and perseverance time and time again in the face of challenges. The bravery of the protesting teachers and the voices of strong leaders such as Perez-Cassius and Dr.  Wells-Hedrington are not going unseen and unheard as attention is being drawn to these areas of concern. Furthermore, the children in the region have stepped up and shown that they will no longer allow for unsafe conditions to be tolerated. These students have shown responsibility and dedication in a way that no child should ever have to. Their passion and drive through their protests and their demands of lawmakers have made waves in their communities and it will be impossible for those in power to ignore their rightly placed rage.  After the terror of Irma and Maria the people of the U.S. Virgin Islands have worked hard to rebuild themselves and their education system, demonstrations of strength that will stand to the region with any hope.  

Featured image by “Back to school/ Picture by MChe Lee via Unsplash” 

 

References 

 

 

Educational Challenges in Cape Verde: the sea and other barriers

Written by Samira Andrade

Cape Verde is an insular country located approximately 500 km off the African west coast. This archipelago, formed by 10 main islands and several smaller ones, is home to approximately 550,000 people, of which more than one-fifth are children between the ages of 6 and 14 and therefore obligated to attend school for a minimum of nine years, according to the Education Law of Cape Verde.

After Cape Verde gained independence from Portugal in 1975, the country set out to establish an educational system that would better serve Cape Verdeans. The early years were marked by significant challenges as the legacy of colonialism left the nation with limited means and structure to create access to universal education.

During the 80s and 90s, regular reforms were undertaken by the government to gradually improve the functioning of the education system and the quality of services provided to its people.

One of the most significant developments has been expanding access to education, particularly at the primary and secondary levels. Today, more than 80% of the population is literate, and most children in Cape Verde attend school, bringing the country close to achieving the Millennium Development Goals concerning universal basic education.

However, an in-depth analysis of the educational system reveals that there are still significant challenges to overcome, such as disparities in the quality of education experience between central and more rural areas, lack of qualified personnel for specialized and crucial areas like sciences and technologies and a defaulted articulation between the curricular program and the needs of the national economy.

The kindergarten graduation in Santiago island. Photo by Duncan CV

Insularity as a barrier to standardize education across the country.

Although, in general, there’s a relatively even distribution of population across the nation, Santiago is home to nearly 35% of its total population and, therefore, the most populous island.

Despite the decentralization policies implemented in the last years to empower local governments and address the unique needs of their communities, historically, there has been criticism about the unequal distribution of resources and investment funnelled to Praia (the country’s capital) and other regions.

Alongside other spheres of the national economy like trading, commerce, medical care and other specialized services,  the quality of education experienced in the capital and urban centres is different to what is the reality in more remote areas of the country. Schools in Praia tend to have better resources and infrastructures, more qualified teachers, and higher educational standards. In contrast, some schools in remote areas often lack essential resources like textbooks, electricity, and running water.

While there is a significant concentration of schools in urban areas, students in rural regions and less central islands like Brava, Santo Antao, and Sao Nicolau see themselves forced to travel further distances to attend school but unable to rely on a public transportation system to cover regular allocation. Because many families cannot afford the transportation cost, in this scenario, the distance to schools can be a significant barrier for children to access and complete their education. For many communities in the more interior regions of these islands, roads and infrastructures are debilitated. During the rainy season, travelling can be dangerous, leaving them temporarily isolated and students unable to travel safely to school.

The inequality in the level of education experienced across different regions of the cape-Verdean territory can have a considerable impact on the academic prospect and life opportunities of the youngsters. If those living in remote locations have limited access to quality education and training, their ability to secure employment in areas that require higher qualifications is being hindered and limits the extension of their contribution to the country’s development.

Neglected, with fewer resources and qualified teachers, schools in rural areas experience higher dropout rates, and illiteracy rates are twice more elevated than observed in the capital.

One way to balance the plate and pave a path towards a more standardized education across the country could be by redirecting social funds. Social action and funding are crucial to universal access to education in Cape Verde. Still, the internal sectoral analysis revealed that the education system consumes most of this resource with personnel and social support in primary education. Distribution of these funds that prioritized more impoverished groups could be a way to close the existing gap.

The modernization of the curricular program versus the needs of the economy

Since 2017, cape-verdean schools embraced a new curricular matrix to adapt to the country’s and the world’s modern challenges.

In an interview for a national newspaper, the cape-verdean National Director of Education detailed that the reform was designed to approximate the ones followed by foreign and modern countries so that cape-verdean students can respond to the challenges of the country but also prepare them to be capable of integrating foreign markets. Although around 40% of the population lives in rural areas, food production has a low weight in the country’s GDP (4.9% in 2020), which sentences the country to bare crushing importation rates to sustain its internal food necessities. On the other hand, significant but more labour areas of the national economy like agriculture, fisheries, and livestock are poorly supported by the curricular program leaving those who live from it stuck with precious but outdated knowledge and techniques passed down through generations.

In resemblance to what is currently being made around tourism, tailoring the national program to provide students with the knowledge on how to leverage technology to enhance local food production, improve the quality and quantity of livestock and expand their resources to take better advantage of their vast and rich maritime territory, Cape-Verd stands an excellent chance to enhance productivity, sustainability, and efficiency in the food production reducing its reliance on imported goods and bring primary products at a more accessible price to its people. 

In the context of scarce natural resources and recurrent cyclical periods of drought, Cape-verd could resort to education to empower the next generation of farmers, fishermen, and agricultural professionals with skills to employ cutting-edge technologies like precision agriculture, aquaculture systems, and intelligent livestock management practices. Modernizing their curricular programs centred on the needs of the internal economy and forming qualified people with skills to suppress those needs can ultimately lead Cape-Verd to achieve self-sufficiency and security at all levels.

Teachers – The vehicle to modernization

In Cape Verde, one of the challenges faced by the educational system is the limited number of teachers with qualifications and specialization. Although this “lack” constitutes a more significant issue in rural areas, it’s a problem that touches the whole educational system,  particularly in specialized areas such as science and technology. Although there has been considerable growth in the percentage of active teachers with higher education due to governmental programs, this number still needs to be increased across the primary and secondary levels of education, which can hinder their ability to effectively teach subjects requiring specialized knowledge and expertise. Areas like science and technology play crucial roles in today’s rapidly evolving world, and students need competent and knowledgeable teachers to guide them in these fields. Furthermore, as the ultimate facilitator of implementing curricular reforms, the teacher must be able to follow and absorb information to educate the students properly.

Continuous training for teachers and access to the latest research and pedagogical approaches empowers teachers to provide accurate and up-to-date information, cultivating an intellectually stimulating environment that nurtures students’ curiosity and prepares them to thrive in an ever-evolving world. Ultimately, investing in teachers’ professional growth and development is an investment in the quality of education and students’ future success.

To address this challenge, efforts should be made to enhance teacher training programs, provide professional development opportunities, and encourage teachers to specialize in specific subjects. By investing in the professional development of teachers and promoting specialization, Cape Verde can improve the quality of education in science and technology, equipping students with the necessary skills for a rapidly advancing future.

 

References

http://www.mistress-of-spices.net/2011/03/cachupa-national-dish-of-cape-verde.html

https://www.ibe.unesco.org/sites/default/files/Cape_Verde.pdf

https://minedu.gov.cv/documentoscartas/1

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/45452058_Cabo_Verde_e_a_Educacao_ganhos_e_desafios

https://minedu.gov.cv/noticias95

https://myaicep.portugalexporta.pt/mercados-internacionais/cv/cabo-verde?setorProduto=-1

https://expressodasilhas.cv/pais/2021/09/18/o-que-muda-com-a-revisao-curricular/76638  http://portaldoconhecimento.gov.cv/handle/10961/5030?mode=full