On Tuesday morning at the New Testament Church of God in Baughers Bay, seventh grader De’Nya Winter showed off a mechanical claw she made from a LEGO robotics line called Spike Prime.
“You have to run the programme by pressing play,” Ms. Winter said, pointing to a tablet propped up nearby. “You gotta wait for it to run. Okay, then when you press, it closes. When you release, it opens.”
Besides building the claw, the Elmore Stoutt High School student and her classmate Amara Martin used software skills to programme it.
The device was among several projects on display at an exhibit held to demonstrate the Ministry of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports’ “S.T.E.A.M.” approach to members of the media.
The learning system — short for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics — is the reason students like Ms. Winter are so fluent in the language of robotics.
The Tuesday morning event also kicked off this year’s Education Month activities, which were officially launched by EYS Minister Sharie de Castro.
As mid-morning arrived, so did a corps of education officials from around the territory, who then joined Ms. de Castro at her first solo press conference since she became a government minister in 2022.
In a statement, the minister announced $2.5 million worth of remedial works planned for school infrastructure around the territory this year — $1 million more than in 2024 and $1.65 million more than in 2023, she said.
As part of that work, a tender has already been issued to fix the perimetre wall around ESHS, according to the minister.
In addition to the $2.5 million spend, Ms. De Castro said, her ministry will also expand a $1.9 million technology upgrade that got under way last year by supplying schools with smart boards, photocopiers and robotics kits.
“A key part of our strategy is enhancing digital learning,” the minister said. “This year we are rolling out comprehensive upgrades to digital platforms, improving internet connectivity, updating hardware, and introducing interactive tools that promote digital literacy.”
Pay raise
Ms. de Castro also touted a recent pay raise for teachers, noting that the roughly $31,000 annual salary available to her in 2011 when she began teaching was not enough for accredited teachers even then.
“With the recent salary review, we’ve seen an increase [in annual base pay] for qualified Virgin Islands teachers to $55,000,” the minister said.
To attract good teachers, she added, the territory must continue to match or exceed the status quo, as she said government did last November.
“We recognise that retaining and attracting quality educators requires competitive compensation,” the minister said. “The recently completed salary review ensures that our teachers’ salaries surpass regional standards, making the profession more attractive to talented individuals.”
The new annual base salary for certified teachers, according to Ms. de Castro, is around $4,000 higher than the United States VI’s. In addition to the pay bump, more opportunities are being offered for teachers seeking higher education, the minister said.
“This year, a cohort of educators has already begun a Certificate in S.T.E.A.M. Education to equip themselves with the skills needed to drive innovation in our classrooms,” she added. “We are also expanding funding for bachelor’s degrees, ensuring that more teachers receive higher education.”
The ministry expects that around 70 educators will take advantage of either the certificate or the degree programme, she said.
Also included in the $2.5 million in remedial works planned for this year are security upgrades, most of which will go to ESHS, the minister said. Asked for specifics, she first acknowledged a rise in illegal activity.
“Recently, we’ve had an increased amount of persons, unfortunately, breaking into schools,” she said. “This has happened in the evening hours in a number of our school communities, and while we have requested support from the police in terms of increased patrols, we have invested in security cameras to be able to monitor our school; security systems that will allow us to ensure that our schools are safe.”
Currently, the only metal-detection systems in place at ESHS are school security officers with magnetic wands, but Ms. De Castro said she expects walk-through detectors to be installed later this year.