CASTRIES, Saint Lucia – The government of Saint Lucia is moving forward with two landmark policy changes aimed at advancing equity in education and supporting low-wage education workers, announced by Education Minister Kenson Casimir this Wednesday. Speaking during the debate over the national Appropriation Bill in the country’s House of Assembly, Casimir outlined details of the two progressive initiatives set to roll out in the coming term.
The first reform centers on expanding the island nation’s period poverty relief program, which has already delivered free menstrual sanitary products to all secondary school students since its launch in the 2024/25 fiscal year. Moving forward, the initiative will extend coverage to primary school learners, with plans to eventually include students enrolled at Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, bringing free access to students across every academic level in the country.
Officials designed the program from its inception to address two critical interconnected challenges: reducing the financial strain placed on low and middle-income households, and eliminating barriers to consistent school attendance for students who struggle to access affordable menstrual products. By expanding the program to cover all grade levels, policymakers aim to ensure no student is forced to miss class or manage menstrual hygiene in unsafe conditions due to cost barriers.
In a second, separate announcement, Minister Casimir confirmed that for the first time in the country’s history, school cooks and janitorial staff will receive full pay during the annual August vacation period. To fund this commitment, the government has allocated $407,000 for cook salaries and an additional $558,000 for sanitation worker pay, bringing the total allocated funding to just under $1 million. This policy follows a similar step the current administration took in 2025, when it moved to guarantee full vacation salaries for temporary teachers, closing another gap in income support for education workers.
Hundreds of school support staff across Saint Lucia previously went without any income during the six-week August break, as their contracts only covered active school terms. The new guarantee is expected to provide much-needed financial stability to these workers, many of whom rely on the monthly income to cover basic household needs.