The Minister for Education, Human Resource Planning, Vocational Training and National Excellence, Octavia Alfred, has outlined new objectives for Dominica’s changing reality. She revealed that the education ministry is focused on gender-based educational system and climate-resilience studies for schools.
Alfred said the new education plan will ensure that boys and girls get academic exposures that are appropriate to their gender and targeted roles in the society. She said a new curriculum is on its way and that this will address gender disparity and target specific learning needs for both sexes at different levels of schooling.
“I believe we are beginning to address this issue through comprehensive reviews of the curriculum that considers a child as the most important stakeholder within the education sector,” the minister stated.
She added that the ministry of education is working on re-introducing civic education back to schools and the necessity for this plan is captured in the coming curriculum. She revealed that civic education will teach students to know what roles they must play in shaping the society for assured progress.
The minister said the coming school curriculum will also address climate change and resilience in schools so that teachers, parents and students can understand what to do for the society to be truly resilient to natural events.
“If we agree that quality education is grounded in basic skills, knowledge, values and attitudes [then] we can not shy away from these immediate and very real threats,” the minister said. “We must empower our children to take charge of these challenges.”
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