Saint Lucia
The Ministry of Education Senior Staff Retreat was held at Sandals Grande St Lucia Spa and Beach Resort January 24, 2006. EDC/HHD worked closely with representatives of the Ministry of Education, Human Resource Development, Youth & Sports to organize the retreat.
EDC/HHD sent invitations to 75 senior level Ministry of Education staff to introduce the campaign and reinforce how important it is for the Ministry of Education to strengthen their response to HIV and AIDS. The senior level staff included heads of divisions and units, principals and education officers from across the country.
Opening Ceremony: (From left) Secretary General Paule Turmel-John,St. Lucia National Commission for UNESCO; Senior Project Director Connie Constantine, Education Development Center, Inc.; and Permanent Secretary Esther Braithwaite,St. Lucia Ministry Of Education
©EDC/HHD
Permanent Secretary Esther Braithwaite, Secretary General Paule Turmel-John and Senior Project Director Connie Constantine from EDC/HHD participated in the opening ceremonies. Ms. Turmel-John stated that “UNESCO aims at integrating HIV and AIDS prevention education into the global development agenda and national policies, adapting preventive education to the diversity of needs and contexts, encouraging responsible behaviour and reducing vulnerability. Prevention education should always include culturally appropriate curricula and pedagogical methods for in-school education.” Ms. Braithwaite underlined how the ministries “approach to HIV/AIDS must be one that seeks to deal with the issues comprehensively, collaboratively and in a determined manner.”
The welcome address was followed by a powerful presentation by the St. Lucian youth edutainment theatre group, Yaticka, which presented various interactive scenarios addressing stigma and discrimination in the education sector. Dr. Stephen King, the Chief Medical Officer, gave a detailed presentation of the medical perspective on the current status of HIV and AIDS in St. Lucia. He pointed out that over the last decade the number of people volunteering to get tested for HIV had increased and that this trend should be supported. He spoke of the critical role that the education sector can play to “keep people who are with us well.” Mr. Louisy, Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce, described the potential economic impact of HIV and AIDS on the country, pointing out the impact of HIV on the education sector and on the overall labour force.
Among the other speakers included, Mrs. Rita Dyer of the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College gave a current update on the HIV and AIDS topics covered in the curriculum. Mr. Wayne Comverbatch of the Teacher’s Union spoke about the importance of a healthy psycho-social and physical education environment. Mr. Nahum Jn Baptiste of the National AIDS Program Secretariat gave a detailed report on services, care and support to address HIV and AIDS. Ms. Virginia Albert from Education International ended the morning session with a powerful presentation on the importance of workplace policy for HIV and AIDS.
Yaticka Youth Group from Soufriere, St. Lucia lead an interactive session with retreat participants.
©EDC/HHD
In the afternoon, AIDS Action Foundation led an interactive session with the participants focusing on stigma and discrimination and the personal impact of such attitudes on persons living with HIV and AIDS.
The final session of the day was a working session introduced by Permanent Secretary, Esther Braithwaite. Mrs. Sophia Edwards-Gabriel, St. Lucia HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Project Focal Point first presented the MOE draft work plan for HIV and AIDS. Participants were then asked to work in groups to deliver suggestions for improving, enhancing and implementing the action plan. Attachment F in the Annex has a sample of the action plan template used by participants. These suggestions were shared with the larger group and submitted to Ms. Sophia Edwards-Gabriel, St. Lucia HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Project Focal Point who will summarize the comments and share the draft action plan with the Minister of Education and EDC.
Click here to review the Ministry of Education retreat agenda.