As part of ongoing youth violence prevention efforts, the United States Government has partnered with St. Lucia’s Department of Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development to commence the introduction of robotics and computer coding into the secondary school curriculum in St. Lucia.

The initiative is being supported through the United States Agency for International Development’s  (USAID) Community, Family & Youth Resilience Project (CFYR), and will be piloted in four secondary schools reaching approximately two-hundred and forty students.

United States Ambassador to Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean and the OECS, Linda Taglialatela, today presented US$109,000 worth of equipment including robotics kits, presentation equipment and laptops and charging facilities, to the Ministry of Education during a handing-over ceremony at the Grande Rivière Secondary School in Dennery.

Addressing the gathering attended by Minister of Education, Dr. Gale Rigobert, the Ambassador  applauded the Ministry for its efforts to inspire a new generation of young people.  She also underscored the US Government’s commitment to supporting  the promotion of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education.

“Today, I am hopeful. As I look around this room, I see leaders and future innovators.  I am pleased that the robotics and coding equipment being handed over this morning is part of a larger effort to incorporate coding into the school curriculum – into math, physics, and computer science. Research suggests that this helps children to work effectively in teams and to solve real life problems by applying creativity and critical thinking .This is exactly what is needed in our workplaces, communities, homes, and schools,” the Ambassador emphasized while urging students to make wise use of technology. During the ceremony, guests were treated to a small robotics demonstration by the students.

To date, 12 teachers and four student volunteers have been trained to support the introduction of robotics and coding curriculum to math, physics, computer, and other traditional classes as a means of stimulating interest in learning. Using Lego Mindstorms, an international robotics platform, these students will be able to build, customize and program their own robots. The project will also include the staging of a 2-day competition, or “Hackathon,” where students will showcase their creativity and compete for prizes.

The four secondary schools selected for the pilot are Beanefield Secondary School in Vieux Fort, Bocage Secondary School in Castries, Grande Rivière Secondary School in Dennery, and the Comprehensive Secondary School in Soufrière.