ROADTOWN Tortola BVI, July 31st, 2012 – Beginning September 2013, third form students at the Elmore Stoutt High School interested in pursuing technical studies will have the option to transfer to the BVI Technical and Vocational Institute (BVITVI) as the Ministry of Education and Culture has commenced plans to turn the BVITVI into the Territory’s fourth secondary school.
Minister Walwyn made this disclosure at the July 24 sitting of the House of Assembly, cementing on his initial announcement made on June 27 at the BVITVI graduation exercise.
Speaking at last Tuesday’s sitting of the House of Assembly, Minister Walwyn said that they will first seek to bring the existing cohort of students in line with their secondary counterparts so that they can seek gainful employment or further education.
Outlining the process for the next two years the Education Minister said that current BVITVI students will take a diagnostic/pre test in basic Math and English in September 2012 as administered by the Department of Education. Following the test results, the students will undergo intense remediation for one year from 2012 – 2013.
Minister Walwyn said, “The education demands made by society continue to shift to areas in industry and technology. As a result, our schools must respond to these changes.”
According to the minister the opportunity to purse technical studies at BVITVI will also be extended to students from the other secondary schools in the future.
Highlighting the progress made thus far, the Minister reported, “We have already started work on preparing the physical infrastructure of the Baughers Bay School by acquiring more property surrounding the campus to properly create a learning institution that will truly serve the needs of our students” he said.
The Minister continued, “To accommodate phase one of redeveloping this new high school, current students will be housed for two months at the Sir Rupert Briercliffe Hall beginning this September. This temporary relocation will allow for the refurbishment of the main building of the school.”
Minister Walwyn stated that presently the school accommodates those students who have attained the age of 14 and are still in primary school; students from the secondary institutions who seem not be managing and have not been able to matriculate towards graduation; as well as those students having behavioural difficulties.
The Education Minister announced that there will be no more transfer of students’ aged 14 plus from primary schools to BVITVI. “At the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year all 14 plus primary school students will be retained in their present schools and classes where they will receive intense remediation in Reading, Math and English skills by trained Special Education teachers.”
He said, “Our education standards, programmes, and equally important, our certification procedures, must be tailored to take these changes and demands into account to allow our students and thus our Territory to be globally competitive with our locals at the helm of industries.”
The Ministry of Education and Culture seeks to create long term sustainable plans for the diffusion of technical students in the Territory’s labour market as we fulfil Governments commitment to see all students reach their full potential.
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