OPPORTUNITY HIGH SCHOOL

Opportunity High School

Opportunity High School

Introduction

The status of education in Saint Lucia improved during the past decade largely due to major reform initiatives. Such initiatives were targeted at improved quality of education and increased opportunities for individuals to advance themselves at all levels in the system. Vigorous efforts at the regional and local levels in pursuit of curricula reform with emphasis on remediation for underserved students and training of primary and secondary teachers in content and pedagogy for improved students' performance indicated a willingness to give priority to quality education (Field, 2008).

Notwithstanding the strides made during the 1980s and 1990s, educational attainment is still a great concern. According to Dwight Venner, the Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, the under 17-year olds constitute about 28% of the total population. It is imperative, therefore, that this cohort attains the highest level of education possible to enable Saint Lucia to continue to hold its own against competition on the global market.

Organisation and Management

The Church (Catholic, Anglican and Methodist) was the prime initiator of school construction and infrastructure in Saint Lucia after emancipation in 1838. The Saint Joseph Convent, Church governed, was the first secondary school to serve the nation. Following that era, the Government joined the campaign for increased access to education. To date, the church and government have undertaken the construction of eighty two primary and seventeen secondary schools throughout the state with financial assistance from Leon Hess Oils limited, Department for International Development (formally BDDC), USAID, CDB, the Canadian Government and the French government.

During the past decade, four primary schools, including one for the physically challenged, and four secondary schools were built. An additional two, one Senior Primary and one Junior Secondary were upgraded to full - fledged secondary schools. Those additional units provided increased access to educational opportunities for many students, which to some extent eased the overcrowding conditions that exist in some urban schools.

The Church shares the management of education with the Ministry of Education with the latter playing the predominant role. Schools built and managed by the government are categorised as public schools. Those built on Church property and by the Church are public assisted schools.

Responsibility for educational policies and programmes is vested in the Ministry of Education. Beyond its role in formulating educational policies and standards, it designs and monitors the operation of the school system, consistent with its political mandate. It is also charged with ensuring that delivery of the educational programme was consistent with the Long Term Sector plan and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean Education States (OECS) Education Reform Strategy (Kaslow, 2006).

The latter is a collective agreement of the Eastern Caribbean Ministries of Education to adopt a harmonised approach to education from pre-school to tertiary level. Educational Legislation and a revised curriculum have been discussed with major stakeholders. Some aspects of the revised curriculum are awaiting publication to be followed by implementation in all primary schools in the year 2000.

Access and Cost

It was projected that Saint Lucia would ...