The recent concerns expressed by Saint Lucia’s Minister for Education and Digital Transformation, Hon. Kenson Casimir, regarding the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) School-Based Assessments (SBAs), as reported in the January 26, 2026, edition of the Saint Lucia Times, deserve careful reflection and broad national engagement. His acknowledgment of both the promise and the potential pitfalls of AI in education signals a timely and necessary conversation about the future of learning and the formation of our young people.
The Minister is correct in noting that AI represents an inevitable and transformative force. As CXC moves toward integrating written and digital components into its examinations, educators and policymakers must grapple with the reality that technology is reshaping how students access, process, and present information. AI can be a powerful tool for research, creativity, and personalized learning. It can enhance educational delivery and prepare students for participation in an increasingly digital global society.
However, the Minister’s caution that safeguards must be implemented to preserve academic integrity is both prudent and urgent. An education system that allows SBAs to be completed entirely through AI, without accountability, risks undermining the very purpose of assessment: to evaluate a student’s own understanding, critical thinking, and effort.
Globally, nations are already confronting the implications of unrestricted technological exposure for children. Australia has taken a leading role by implementing measures that limit access to certain digital tools, including AI-driven platforms, for minors since December 2025. Other countries in Europe are exploring similar legislation. These actions reflect a growing awareness that while technology can support learning, it can also hinder essential aspects of cognitive and moral development if introduced without boundaries.
Closer to home, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and the Archbishop of Port of Spain, the Most Rev. Charles Jason Gordon, have also contributed meaningfully to this dialogue. Archbishop Gordon has emphasized that a child’s brain is still developing key faculties such as executive function, moral reasoning, judgment, and sustained attention. If these faculties are prematurely outsourced to machines, they risk remaining underdeveloped. His warning is sobering: AI may enhance performance, but it cannot form character; it may generate answers, but it cannot cultivate wisdom. Education must therefore remain a deep human process that nurtures discipline, creativity, resilience, and ethical awareness.
The question before Saint Lucia is not whether AI should be permitted or prohibited outright, but how it can be responsibly integrated into the educational system in a way that safeguards the holistic development of the child. Legislation, as Minister Casimir has suggested, will be essential in setting clear guidelines and consequences for misuse.
Equally important is the role of parents, teachers, and religious and civic leaders in fostering a culture that values honesty, intellectual effort, and moral responsibility. Ultimately, the goal of education is not merely to produce academically competent individuals, but to form thoughtful, principled, and socially responsible citizens. AI, when used wisely, can support this mission. However, it must never replace the human processes of reflection, struggle, and growth that are essential to authentic learning. Saint Lucia now stands at a critical juncture, with the opportunity to shape policies that embrace technological advancement while safeguarding the dignity and development of its children.
A vital question before us is: can the moves of Australia, France, Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom and Spain, in having strict legislation regarding the use of AI by children of a certain age, be instructive? Let the conversation begin!