2. Education sector diagnosis
Services, including tourism, are the largest contributor to gross domestic product( GDP) at over 80 %( Figure 3) and are a major contributor to national economic diversification efforts. Sectors such as information and communication technology( ICT), transportation, construction, and personal services, including Citizenship By Investment, are expected to grow( GoSKN, 2013c, 2017).
According to the most recent labour market survey( 2009), the labour force participation rate is 73 %( 73.8 % in St. Kitts and 70.8 % in Nevis) and the unemployment rate is 6.5 %( 6.0 % in St. Kitts and 8.2 % in Nevis). Notably, the unemployment rate of the 20 – 24 age group( 12 %) is almost double the national unemployment rate. This underlines the importance of strengthening the external efficiency of the education system, as prolonged unemployment among this population group could significantly undermine economic and social stability( Bekkers, 2009; UNESCO, 2014).
SKN is classified by the UNDP( 2016) as a High Human Development Country; nevertheless, poverty and social vulnerability remain present on both islands, with an overall poverty rate of 23.7 % in St. Kitts and 15.9 % in Nevis( CDB, 2009). In terms of the geographical dispersion of poverty, poverty is concentrated in St. Georges-East and West( Basseterre)( 30.52 %), St. Johns( 20.9 %), and St. Mary’ s( 17.1 %) in St. Kitts, while the parish of St. John’ s in Nevis has the highest percentage of persons living in poverty( 39.3 %). With respect to poverty and gender, more women than men were living in poverty in St. Kitts, while the opposite was true in Nevis. Critically, young persons aged 0 – 14 comprised 40 % of persons living in poverty, with 1 in 3 children in St. Kitts and 1 and 4 in Nevis found in this population group. In addition to youth below the poverty line, there are several other vulnerable demographic groups for which careful investments should be made to promote equity in educational access and learning outcomes. These include:( i) low-wage workers without( sufficient) educational certification( 49.9 % of males and 47.3 % of females in the lowest poverty quintile),( ii) disillusioned youth( especially boys and teenage mothers who run the risk of not completing compulsory schooling, 9 and( iii) non-English speaking immigrant groups( GoSKN, 2012c).
Culturally, the Federation abounds with indigenous knowledge, traditions, and art forms that have been historically marginalized through formal schooling. This marginalization is a socio-cultural legacy of the colonial education system that was designed to devalue expressions of local culture and African heritage and fashion loyal British subjects( Pemberton, 2010). Across the Caribbean, this lack of cultural pride has been put forward as a factor in negative affective development of youth and perceived social decline in the region. The curriculum, in all its iterations( intended, implemented, and hidden), transmits cultural values and, as such, has a significant role to play in fostering cultural empowerment and positive affective development in learners( Miller et al., 1991, 2000, Pemberton, 2010).
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Structure of the education system
Early childhood development( ECD) caters for children aged 0 – 5 and is provided through a combination of nurseries( 0 – 2 years of age), preschools( 3 – 5 years of age), and day cares( 0 – 5 years of age). Primary and secondary education are free and compulsory for children aged 5 – 16, with primary school comprising Kindergarten to Grade 5, and secondary school comprising Forms 1 to 5. At the secondary level, 10 students in each form are grouped into‘ ability streams’, based on academic performance, and many of the students in the lowest stream of Form 4 have historically left school at the age of 16 before continuing to the final year of secondary school. 11 For learners with a range of special education needs, education and training is provided at the Cotton Thomas Comprehensive School( CTCS) in St. Kitts or the Cicele Brown Integrated School( CBIS) in Nevis. Higher education consists of formal and non-formal post-secondary TVET as well as national, regional, and off-shore tertiary level institutions. The GoSKN MoE manages education and training through the post-secondary / non-tertiary level in St. Kitts( ISCED 4) and the NIA MoE manages education provision up to the tertiary short cycle( ISCED 5) through the Nevis Sixth Form College.
9. 14.5 % of births in 2011 were to women aged 19 or younger( Vassell, 2014). 10. Streaming also occurs in some primary schools with multiple classes per grade.
11. Although the trajectory of these students has not been tracked, it is safe to say that some of these students are absorbed into formal and non-formal post-secondary technical and vocational training( TVET) and / or work placement programmes.