分类： education

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) has wrapped up a far-reaching outreach initiative that has brought interactive programming and global dialogue opportunities to more than 50 primary and secondary schools spread across the Caribbean nation of Antigua. Designed to connect young local learners with the broader values and global mission of the Commonwealth organization, the programme has delivered a range of tailored activities that align with the country’s existing educational priorities while introducing new perspectives on international cooperation, youth leadership, and sustainable development. Organizers worked closely with Antigua’s Ministry of Education to coordinate the school visits, ensuring that sessions were accessible to students across rural and urban communities, and that content aligned with age-appropriate learning outcomes for different grade levels. Activities included interactive workshops on youth civic engagement, panel discussions with young community leaders from across the Commonwealth, and informational sessions that highlight the role of multilateral cooperation in addressing shared challenges like climate resilience, economic equity, and access to quality education. Many school administrators and teachers have welcomed the initiative, noting that it provides students with unique opportunities to engage with global issues that directly impact their future, beyond what is typically covered in standard classroom curricula. For students, the programme has opened doors to new networking opportunities and resources that can support their own leadership and development projects within their local communities. The outreach effort forms part of a broader suite of pre-summit engagement activities leading up to the official CHOGM meeting, which brings together heads of government from across the 56-nation Commonwealth bloc to discuss collective action on key global and regional issues. Organizers say the focus on youth engagement in Antigua reflects the Commonwealth’s longstanding commitment to centering young people in decision-making, recognizing that today’s students will be the leaders tasked with addressing future global challenges. Moving forward, plans are in place to extend the impact of the programme by creating ongoing digital resources for participating schools, connecting Antiguan students with peer learners across other Commonwealth nations to continue collaborative learning projects. This multi-phase approach ensures that the outreach initiative delivers long-term value to the Antiguan education community, rather than serving as a one-off engagement event.

A high-profile industry dialogue focused on nurturing the next generation of Caribbean tourism professionals has brought Antigua and Barbuda’s top tourism official directly into conversation with young people poised to shape the region’s future. The Minister of Tourism for Antigua and Barbuda took center stage at the interactive session, titled “From the Classroom to the Caribbean: Conversations with Tourism Leaders”, an event designed explicitly to bridge the gap between up-and-coming talent and seasoned, established leaders in the regional tourism space.

Beyond simple career discussions, the forum placed significant emphasis on the critical, often underrecognized role of mentorship in growing a resilient, adaptive tourism sector. Organizers and speakers alike stressed that as global tourism continues to evolve to meet shifting traveler expectations, economic pressures, and sustainability demands, young professionals need dedicated space to contribute fresh perspectives and test their innovative ideas, rather than being sidelined as junior stakeholders.

Youth development stood as the unifying core theme throughout the entire discussion. Attending participants, all aspiring future leaders in Caribbean tourism, engaged in deep exploration of how consistent access to guidance from experienced industry leaders can equip emerging professionals to step into greater leadership responsibility. This targeted support, attendees and the minister agreed, ultimately paves the way for a more robust, competitive, and sustainable regional tourism sector that leverages the energy and creativity of its young workforce.

The Medicinal Cannabis Authority (MCA) has brought its proactive Substance Abuse and Awareness Learning (SAAL) initiative to Otto Comprehensive School, marking the fifth educational institution reached by the program since its launch in September. This on-site outreach session centered on equipping adolescent students with evidence-based information to make informed choices about delaying or completely avoiding the initiation of substance use during their critical developmental years.

Designed to guide young people through the complex transitions from adolescence to adulthood, the interactive presentation pushed back against widespread cultural narratives that frame cannabis as a harmless recreational activity. MCA representatives stressed that for developing brains and bodies, the substance carries significant avoidable risks, urging students to not adopt the normalization of adult substance use as a template for their own behavior.

The open discussion also covered underdiscussed dangers of unregulated substance use: when young people obtain cannabis or other drugs from unvetted sources, they face severe risks including contamination with toxic chemicals and unexpected adulterants that can cause acute harm. The outreach also addressed the growing public health threat of youth vaping, reminding attendees that most commercial vaping products contain highly addictive nicotine, engineered to encourage compulsive, repeated use that can lead to long-term dependence.

Across all covered topics—including cannabis, tobacco, vaping, and alcohol—the core message of SAAL remained consistent: all mood-altering substances require intentional, responsible decision-making, and young people are best served by avoiding misuse to prioritize their personal growth, academic progress, and long-term life outcomes.

Beyond educating students, the session also reinforced the critical role that adults play in youth substance use prevention. Teachers, parents, guardians and other community adults are positioned both as positive role models for healthy decision-making and as the first point of support for young people navigating questions or concerns about substance use.

To extend the impact of the program beyond single outreach sessions, MCA has built a formal partnership with the Substance-Use Prevention, Assessment and Rehabilitation Center (SPARC) to provide ongoing support for schools and families. The authority encourages educators, administrators, parents and guardians to reach out directly for additional guidance—whether a student is already showing signs of needing targeted support, or adults simply want to deepen their own understanding of cannabis-related issues to better guide young people.

Schools can also contact MCA to arrange tailored counselling referrals, ongoing student support programming, and customized educational sessions focused on cannabis literacy and responsible substance use. The initiative is rooted in a proactive public health framework, prioritizing early access to accurate information and support before problematic use develops, rather than responding only after crises emerge. Through consistent, repeated engagement with schools via SAAL, MCA is working to build sustained, trusting relationships that create space for honest conversations, empower informed decision-making, and enable early intervention when it is most needed.

In a vibrant gathering that brought together two local learning communities on the island of Antigua, students from Freemanville Primary School and Seaview Farm Primary School came together for “One Stage, Infinite Rhythm – A Celebration of Music Education”, a full day dedicated to artistic exploration, collaborative learning, and celebration of school-based music programming.

Hosted on the Freemanville Primary School campus, the event was anchored by the core theme “Keep Music Alive in Schools”, an initiative conceived and organized by Kezzary David, a music educator at Freemanville. David designed the collaborative gathering to address the critical role of sustained music education in youth development, while creating an accessible, low-pressure platform for young students to uncover their innate creative abilities and nurture emerging skills.

Throughout the day, attendees took part in a diverse lineup of hands-on interactive sessions covering a wide range of artistic disciplines. Musical workshops offered students the chance to explore choir performance, guitar technique, recorder playing, steel pan performance, djembe drumming, and marching band coordination. To expand the scope of artistic learning, professional instructors from the Antigua Dance Academy also led guided dance classes for participating students, giving young learners the chance to explore movement as a form of creative expression.

Beyond practical workshops, the event included a friendly inter-school poem competition, which concluded with Seaview Farm Primary School claiming the top spot. To heighten the excitement and offer students inspiration from working professional artists, the event featured special guest performances from three popular local soca musicians: Peetron Thomas, De General, and Dior. The performers not only entertained the crowd of students but also shared words of encouragement, urging young attendees to prioritize the ongoing development of their creative talents.

The event also received tangible support from local community partner Bona Petit, who operates under the business name Bone Appetite. The organization made a special in-kind donation of a set of drums to Freemanville Primary School to support the long-term growth of the school’s music education programming.

In closing remarks following the successful day, David extended sincere gratitude to the leadership and teaching staff of both participating schools, as well as to parent volunteers, corporate sponsors, workshop facilitators, and all other community supporters whose contributions made the event possible. She emphasized that collaborative gatherings like this create critical space for young people to explore new interests, learn from experts and peers, perform in a low-stakes setting, and grow their creative talents for lifelong enrichment.

After six weeks of immersive, hands-on exploration of Antigua and Barbuda’s critical shipping and logistics ecosystem, three young emerging professionals have wrapped up their participation in the 2026 Maritime Apprenticeship Programme, a collaborative initiative designed to open new career pathways for youth in the island nation’s key maritime sector.

The three apprentices – Dezante Maile, Myah Ward and Shekinah Hector – completed their rotational training on September 11, marking the milestone with an official certificate presentation ceremony hosted by the Antigua and Barbuda Port Authority. Unlike traditional apprenticeship models that keep participants attached to a single employer for the full duration of training, this programme was structured to give learners a holistic 360-degree view of the entire maritime supply chain, rotating them through distinct segments of the industry to build broad foundational understanding.

The training kicked off with a two-week placement at Tropical Shipping, where the apprentices gained firsthand insight into core shipping line operations and the behind-the-scenes work that keeps global trade flowing. From there, they moved to the Antigua and Barbuda Port Authority, where they studied core port management processes and gained a broader overview of how the entire maritime sector operates within the country’s economic framework. Their final rotational segment placed them with private-sector logistics and distribution firms, where they explored the critical intersection of shipping, commercial activity and end-customer delivery: A.S. Bryden & Sons (Antigua) Ltd., Automotive Art and Chase Distributors Ltd. each hosted one apprentice for this stage of the programme.

The apprenticeship is the result of a collaborative partnership between three key regional and local stakeholders: Tropical Shipping, the Port Management Association of the Caribbean (PMAC), and the Antigua and Barbuda Port Authority. From its launch, the initiative has centered on a core mission: connecting young people to untapped career opportunities in shipping, logistics and allied maritime fields, addressing growing industry concerns about knowledge transfer to a new generation of workers.

Tamara Lowe-James, Tropical Shipping’s Island Manager and the lead organizer of the programme, highlighted that facilitators observed marked growth in each participant over the six-week training period. “It was rewarding to see the growth, confidence and enthusiasm of the apprentices throughout the six weeks, and we are extremely grateful to all of our partners who helped make the programme possible,” she shared in remarks at the closing ceremony.

The ceremony also shifted focus to the long-term work of sustaining the sector: what comes after young people get their first introduction to maritime careers. Darwin Telemaque, Chief Executive Officer of the Antigua and Barbuda Port Authority and Chairman of PMAC, used the closing event to call on established industry professionals to step into active mentorship roles for young people hoping to enter the field. His remarks centered on the urgent need for experienced workers to pass down institutional and practical knowledge to the next generation, equipping new entrants with the technical skills and professional confidence required to build long-term, successful careers in the maritime industry.

This year’s 2026 programme builds on the success of a pilot initiative held in 2025, and organizers have already confirmed plans to continue the programme in 2027, opening the opportunity to an entirely new cohort of young people to gain firsthand, immersive experience in the maritime and logistics sector – an industry that forms the backbone of Antigua and Barbuda’s national economy.

A recent sitting of the Youth Parliament in Antigua and Barbuda has shone a bright spotlight on three of the most pressing challenges currently facing the nation’s education sector: delayed compensation for teachers, widespread out-of-pocket spending by educators on basic classroom supplies, and the growing risks of overreliance on artificial intelligence among students.

Two participating youth parliamentarians brought personal and professional perspective to the debate, outlining urgent calls for action while also acknowledging incremental progress in expanding youth inclusion in national governance.

For Cornelius, the representative for St. John’s City East, the most critical unaddressed issue is the large volume of retroactive payments still owed to teaching staff across the country. While she openly recognized the existing policy measures the government has rolled out to support the education workforce, she emphasized that resolving these outstanding wage obligations must stay at the top of the political priority list. In her address, Cornelius argued that public appreciation for educators’ work means little without tangible financial support: teachers cannot cover daily living costs and personal financial obligations on praise alone, and they are fully entitled to receive every cent of the compensation they have already earned.

Taylor, another participant who drew from his own professional background as a practicing educator, shifted focus to the hidden financial burden that many teachers carry voluntarily just to keep their classrooms functional. He called out the widespread unspoken expectation that educators should dip into their own already modest salaries to purchase the basic books, stationery, learning tools and other materials necessary to deliver quality instruction to students.

Beyond educator welfare, Taylor also turned attention to the fast-growing integration of artificial intelligence into student learning. While he acknowledged the tangible benefits of AI as a tool that can help students access new information and break down complex concepts more easily, he issued a clear warning against allowing the technology to replace independent, critical learning. His core concern is that many students are becoming overly dependent on pre-generated AI answers to complete assignments, skipping the rigorous process of building their own deep, foundational understanding of core academic subjects.

Notably, the two youth delegates did not restrict their comments exclusively to criticism of existing education policy and governance. Both representatives highlighted what they view as meaningful progress under the current Gaston Browne administration, specifically noting that the government has opened new formal channels to incorporate young people’s perspectives and voices into national policy discussions.

In all, their presentations struck a balanced tone: pairing measured praise for expanded youth participation with urgent calls for targeted action on long-standing unaddressed challenges. By leveraging the Youth Parliament platform, the delegates successfully elevated long-simmering concerns that affect both educators and students across Antigua and Barbuda, bringing these underdiscussed issues to the attention of national policymakers and the broader public.