Many Virgin Islands students may be sad that the summer break is over, but mother Michelle Richardson said it’s time for them to head back to class.
“I believe back to school is very important,” said Ms. Richardson, whose daughter Ahxiomara is a second-grader at the BVI Seventh-day Adventist School. “I believe that the children have been home long enough. [It’s time to] get them engaging in learning again.”
Across the territory, students headed back to the classroom this week, marking the start of the 2025-2026 school year. For public schools — both primary and secondary — classes officially started on Monday.
For Elmore Stoutt High School students, that meant an assembly featuring musical and dance performances at the Multi-purpose Sports Complex in Road Town. Students and teachers filled the complex, upstairs and down.
The Eslyn Henley Richiez Learning Centre also opened Monday, according to the Ministry of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports.
For Enis Adams Primary School sixth-grader Azana Smart, the start of the new academic year this week meant she would be attending her favourite class — physical education — where she most enjoys participating in track and field. Her enjoyment of the activity goes beyond the school day, as she is also part of the track-and-field team.
But this year, she said, she’s most looking forward to “good grades and nice teachers.”
$67m budget
The new school year marked a record-breaking education budget, according to the ministry. The $67.4 million budget includes an $11 million increase from last year — and another $1.8 million was allocated via a Schedule of Additional Provisions, the ministry added.
“As a result, renovations and upgrades have been completed across Francis Lettsome, Enis Adams, Ebenezer Thomas, Joyce Samuel, and Alexandrina Maduro primary schools, while classrooms across the territory are now benefiting from air-conditioning, electrical upgrades, and enhanced safety systems,” the ministry stated in an Aug. 29 press release.
During a speech at an Aug. 25 “Professional Day ceremony” for teachers, EYAS Minister Sharie de Castro also teased the designs for the long-awaited rebuild of the Althea Scatliffe Primary School.
“[The designs are] reimagined, refocused infrastructure that supports the type of learning that we expect,” Ms. de Castro said as mockup images of the school’s plans were projected behind her.
ASPS, which was the largest primary school in the territory, closed suddenly in June 2022 after a structural analysis found it to be unsafe, and it was demolished in April 2023.
Since then, the rebuild has faced multiple delays, but in January 2024 the ministry signed a memorandum of understanding to move the project forward in partnership with the Sir Richard Branson-backed nonprofit Unite BVI Foundation.
Ms. de Castro did not announce dates for the start of the rebuild when sharing the designs last month.
Big class at HLSCC
At H. Lavity Stoutt Community College, students started classes on Aug. 25. So far, 430 students, including dual-enrolled high schoolers, make up this year’s incoming class, President Richard Georges told the Beacon yesterday. They bring total enrolment up to 768 — a number expected to rise a bit after the add/drop deadlines tomorrow, he said.
The enrolment numbers are returning to levels seen before Hurricane Irma, Mr. Georges said.
“We’re seeing a solid return,” he added. “And we’re seeing year-on growth of between five to ten percent since 2017 to today.”
HLSCC is also seeing growth in its funding, officials said. Government announced this year that it would provide the college with an additional $1,315,000 through a supplementary appropriation.
The money is slated to go toward a number of projects, including a new student information system, designs for a student dormitory, and scholarship programmes, Ms. de Castro said last week.
Dual enrolment
Another new development this year is the rebranding and expansion of HLSCC’s dual enrolment programme, according to Mr. Georges.
The initiative provides four enrolment categories. The first, he said, is matriculation, which allows students to complete pre-college maths and English requirements before graduating high school.
“What we decided is that we really don’t want to create barriers, especially toward the associate’s degree,” Mr. Georges said.
The second and third categories, he continued, involve “advancement.”
Depending on a student’s CXC credentials, they can attend HLSCC classes as a secondary school student for four days a week or one day a week, Mr. Georges explained.
The fourth category supports students interested in the technical and marine fields, he said.
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