St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a 340 sq. km. (130 sq. mi.) state made up of a main island, Saint Vincent as well as 32 smaller islands, the Grenadines, the largest of which are Bequia, Mustique, Canouan, and Union. Some of the smaller islands are privately owned.

St. Vincent was granted associate statehood status in 1969, giving it complete control over its internal affairs. Following a referendum in 1979, St. Vincent and the Grenadines became the last of the Windward Islands to gain independence.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is ranked 87th in the 2005 human development index of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which places the country in the "medium human development" band (UN, 2005).

After experiencing a high GDP growth average during 1995-2000, the economy contracted in 2001 due to the effects of September 11th attack and the global economic slowdown, and started rebounding in 2002. Growth was largely driven by construction in the tourism sector. On the other hand, the agricultural sector contracted in the face of continued uncertainty surrounding the EU banana regime and adverse weather conditions. Total disbursed outstanding public debt grew at an average annual rate of 8.6% between 1999 and 2005 and at the end of December 2005 had almost reached the EC$1 billion mark.

GDP is made of agriculture (10.5%), industry (25.2%), manufacturing (5.3%) and services, including tourism (64.3%). The country has become the main supplier of arrowroot flour to Canada and the US. Fisheries and manufacturing production have also expanded. In 2003, GDP per capita was estimated at USD 3,309.

Illiteracy as an Ongoing Problem in SVG

The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Education Planning Unit notes that many educators have observed that students at all levels in the island’s school system experience severe difficulty in reading. 

In April/May 2005 the Ministry of Education introduced a reading assessment as a strategy to understand the literacy profiles of enrolled students.
An analysis of the Grade 6 Reading Assessment 2005 revealed that:

1. Reading failure in schools can be seen as early as Kindergarten, and is compounded as children move through the education system.
2. Over sixty (60%) of the students are two years behind their chronological age and are therefore not functionally literate.

A national literacy survey (2002) also revealed limited literacy competencies of persons with only a primary education. The survey found that only 67.3% of persons who have a primary education can demonstrate basic literacy competencies.

The Crisis Years and the Rural/Urban Gap
Durbrow et al. (2002) in research published as “Diverging academic paths in rural Caribbean village children: Predicting secondary school entrance from the St Vincent Child Study,” found that children’s achievement, academic, behavior problems, and cognitive abilities as early as age 8 could predict later examination success or failure for Vincentian children. The results of their research suggested that children’s academic paths were well established by at least age 8 (Grade 3) and that children diverged academically and cognitively over the primary school years. As such they recommended that interventions designed to reduce the rural/urban gap in secondary school admissions may be more effective if they started by age 8.

The Response So Far By the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Government
The 2002 national literacy survey found a strong correlation between reading habits and literacy competencies; a consistently higher level of literacy competence was found among those who read frequently as compared with those who seldom read.
Since then, the SVG government has proposed investing in learning resource centers (LRCs) and it is the stated policy that LRCs will be established in all communities throughout the state. The expectation is that a literacy enrichment and support program will meet the following objectives:

• increase levels of literacy substantially from baseline
• increase the provision of books and learning materials, including ICT
• increase management efficiency by encouraging home/school partnerships.

The state intends to establish or upgrade library information centers in seven rural secondary schools and to create classroom libraries in nine low-performing primary schools.

However, stocking the learning resource centers with educational materials will undoubtedly prove to be a challenge. The central reason for this being the high cost of appropriate, quality literacy materials. As an example: to order a set of textbooks (1 set = Reading text + grammar book + practice book) to teach a 20 student class can easily cost USD$400.00 or more, which translates to XCD$1080.00 in local currency.

The Proposed GLP Intervention

Although the Educational Sector Development Plan 2002-2007 makes mention of a “Schools Library Service,” inquiries to the Ministry of Education and to select school principals reveals that currently no formal service has been established. There are 21 secondary schools in the state, and of these nineteen of the 21 schools have spaces designated as library facility and which are reported as being deemed adequate. Of these nineteen locations, ten have collections organized and developed by uncertified Library Assistants. The collections reportedly vary in terms of size, extent of resources and level of organization.

The Global Literacy Project is currently piloting a Schools Libraries and Community Learning Center initiative in the island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines via the delivery of books and other learning materials that will be distributed primarily to learning resource centers and classroom libraries that have been already been built by the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Currently Supported SVG Projects

Comunity Learning Centers

1. Sandy Bay
   
2. South Rivers
   
3. Chester Cottage
   
4. Walden Ryan (Colonarie)
   
5. Sans Souci
   
6. Biabou
   
7. Doris McKie (Cane Hall)
   
8. Questelles
   
9. Layou (Louis Straker LRC)
   
10. Golden Grove (Fitz Hughes)
    
11. Evesham

GLP Projects in the Grenadines

Comunity Learning Centers

Brief History/ Overview of SVG

St. Vincent Map With Details

Map of the Grenadines

CIA Factbook

St. Vincent and the Grenadines - OECS Education Development Project

UNICEF Statistics on SVG