Saint Lucia: MP Shawn Edward urges govt for better internet access

MP Shawn Edward, Minister for Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology & Vocational Training during his passionate address to the House of Assembly asserted the nation's need for better internet access for the indigent and marginalized communities across Saint Lucia.

On the 13^th of February 2024, the House of Assembly witnessed a motion to borrow for the organization of the eastern Caribbean state's skills and innovation project, Edward responded to the opposition in his twenty one minute long speech.

Edward stated that “skills, training and innovation are more necessary in the development of young people today than ever before”.

Of all the information presented Edwards had a heavy emphasis on internet availability for students to assist with their learning process and opportunities. The official Twitter account of the Saint Lucia Government even shared a minute long snippet from the speech where Edwards is tackling that very issue.

He argued that children from such communities should not have to bear the long term costs of their parent's financial circumstances and that the government should be stepping in to further bridge those gaps; this of course is something that the government has not only touched on in the past but implemented in various capacities across the nation.

The programme has also provided those same applicants access to computing devices such as laptops, the Ministry of Education has also dedicated time, money and energy towards developing educational content for those same applicants to access specific to their subjects.

Edward lauded the efforts put forward by the government before comparing it to the previous situation, where the government of Saint Lucia was spending millions of dollars on a foreign entity for developing similar content with a significantly inferior quality, or “flimsy” as the MP put it.

He felt that the initiative and effort were going under notice, going so far as to invite all the sitting members to the Ministry of Education to look for themselves all the work that was being put in.

The MP, although proud of the difference the programme made went on to say that more needs to be done to encourage these students for a brighter future for both themselves and the nation.