An additional year of secondary education, electronic school records and approved home schooling programmes are some of the changes on the way for the territory under a draft amendment to the Education Act published May 1 in government’s Gazette.
The additional school year is needed to keep Virgin Islands students competitive and make sure they have enough time to master their expanding list of school subjects, Education and Culture Minister Walwyn said last month in the House of Assembly when the amendment was introduced.
The change will take effect in time for the 2014-2015 school year, Mr. Walwyn said, with current third-formers to be the first students affected.
Those students “will be selecting their senior programmes this year, [and] will have to complete three more years of secondary education instead of two, taking them to grade 12,” the minister explained.
The next step in the process will be for lawmakers to debate the amendment publicly in the HOA, and then privately in committee before voting on it.
Click below to read the full text of the draft law.
See the May 8, 2014 edition for full coverage.
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