This chapter seeks to highlight the different levels of education in the region which span from early childhood to post-secondary. Schools within the education system are classified as public / government owned while others are referrred to as government assisted/ privately owned. The assisted/ privately owned schools account for 49% of the total institutions while 51% are public as shown on in figure 1.1.
At the regional level there are 345 primary institutions. Across the Member States, Grenada and Saint Lucia have the majority of primary institutions with 95 and 77 respectively. St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Dominica are next in line with 67 and 57 schools each, and the smallest count is in the Virgin Islands with 24.
Regionally, there are 119 Secondary schools in total There are variations in the number of Secondary institutions across the Member States ranging from 8 to 29. As in the primary sector, the majority of these institutions are government operated. An assessment of the other educational institutions shows that there are fewer specialized institutions such as those for Special Needs Education and Technical and Vocational Education and Training.