Today May 1st is being observed as International Labour Day or Workers Day. As we celebrate with our workers and reflect, it is important to note that a good education is the bedrock of social and economic development that is reliant on a robust workforce.
It is for this reason that our Government has been putting in a tremendous amount of resources in education – from Early Childhood Education which is the foundation, to Tertiary and adult education.
We continue to build our human capital by equipping our students with some core competencies and re-tooling or up-skilling our citizens so that they can have more access to existing and emerging job opportunities. Notwithstanding all the challenges that COVID-19 has presented, we have created further opportunities for first-time workers or those already employed or wishing to switch careers, by offering a number of free online courses, bursaries, and scholarships. These have included courses offered by Coursera, Udemy, SKYE, Springboard and the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) among others. We have also expanded the programmes on offer at the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College and facilitated more TVET certification.
Investing in Education is also critical in realizing the Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4). This goal ensures that all girls and boys complete free primary and secondary schooling by 2030 and aims to provide equal access to affordable vocational training, to eliminate gender and wealth disparities, and achieve universal access to a quality higher education.
We will continue to work towards this, as we seek to invest in our human capital, grow our economy, create sustainable opportunities and build resilience.
Happy May Day Saint Lucia and do continue to stay safe!