Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 08, 2019 (SKNIS): His Excellency Dr. David Doyle, Permanent Representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) based in Paris, France, said that UNESCO has been a key partner to St. Kitts and Nevis in the enhancement of educational and technical fields as the twin island Federation prepares residents to achieve success on the local level or the international stage.
Dr. Doyle made the statement during an activity for Diplomatic Week 2018, where diplomats visited the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College’s (CFBC) Division of Technical Vocational Education and Management Studies on Monday, April 08, to educate students on diplomacy.
“UNESCO carried out the first ever evaluation of St. Kitts and Nevis’ Education Policy Framework in 2016, the first ever to be done in the Caribbean and Latin America,” said Dr. Doyle. “This has helped the government here to be able to focus on restructuring the educational framework, curriculum review and professionalizing teachers…, all of the things that we didn’t have the expertise to do ourselves here. And we are now following through on this very important piece of independent study done by UNESCO to ensure that we address each and every one of these issues. We are going through a process of actually creating a framework for professionalizing the teaching staff,” said His Excellency Doyle.
The ambassador said that the assistance with activities such as the Education Policy Framework has placed the Federation in a prominent position.
“St. Kitts and Nevis is leading the way in UNESCO amongst all of the Caribbean States, in that, we have achieved much more in terms of technical expertise and financial assistance from UNESCO for the last 10 years. We have raised something like one million US dollars in terms of financial aid and technical assistance from UNESCO in that period of time,” he stated.
UNESCO seeks to build peace through international cooperation in Education, the Sciences and Culture. UNESCO’s programmes contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals defined in Agenda 2030, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015.
The 2019 edition of Diplomatic Week runs from Sunday, April 07 to Friday, April 12 and is celebrated under the theme, “Securing a Resilient Future through Strategic Diplomacy and Effective Dialogue”.