Carib Scope

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  • Notaris Autar: Surinaamse juristen moeten klaar zijn voor oliecontracten en AI

    Notaris Autar: Surinaamse juristen moeten klaar zijn voor oliecontracten en AI

    On October 29, distinguished Netherlands-based Surinamese notary Aniel Autar delivered a keynote inaugural lecture for first-year Bachelor of Law students at the Anton de Kom University of Suriname (AdeKUS), framing his address around the theme “The Surinamese Jurist 3.0: New Eras, New Challenges”. Autar emphasized that three concurrent transformative shifts — the rapid expansion of Suriname’s burgeoning oil and gas sector, the 2025 implementation of the revised Civil Code, and the widespread integration of artificial intelligence in legal workflows — are raising unprecedented professional standards for the country’s legal practitioners, far exceeding the traditional requirement of mere mastery of domestic statutory law.

    Autar noted that the upcoming GranMorgu offshore oil and gas project, which is on track to deliver its first commercial production in 2028, will bring far more than engineering and commercial opportunities to Suriname. The flood of cross-border energy investments will generate sprawling international contracts, layered financing arrangements, complex liability frameworks, and high-stakes cross-jurisdictional disputes, while even local small and medium-sized enterprises supplying goods and services to the sector will increasingly face foreign legal systems and international arbitration proceedings. He argued that national local content policies must expand beyond creating entry-level jobs and awarding local corporate contracts to prioritize nurturing homegrown legal expertise, ensuring Surinamese jurists can sit as equal, authoritative representatives at international negotiation tables rather than relying exclusively on external foreign legal counsel.

    Turning to the newly enacted 2025 Civil Code, Autar cautioned against unthinkingly importing Dutch legal frameworks to Suriname, stressing that the nation’s unique legal heritage, communal land tenure systems, indigenous community legal norms, and distinct local family and social dynamics demand context-specific legal expertise. Practitioners must develop a nuanced command of not only the new civil code provisions but also legacy pre-reform laws and transitional legal rules governing overlapping cases between the old and new regulatory regimes.

    On the integration of AI into legal practice, Autar acknowledged the technology’s utility for accelerating legal research and drafting routine legal documents, but warned of well-documented risks including fabricated non-existent judicial precedents, misstated statutory provisions, and erroneous analytical outputs. He stressed that jurists must retain robust independent subject-matter expertise to identify AI-generated errors, safeguard confidential client data at all times, and bear full, unshared professional liability for all formal legal advice issued, regardless of any AI tools used to support workflow.

    Beyond technical specialization in energy law, corporate law, and emerging tech regulation, Autar underscored the non-negotiable importance of lifelong continuous professional development, a broad foundational grounding in core legal principles, and unwavering professional independence. He reminded students that they must be prepared to render impartial judgments even when facing pressure from clients, employers, or powerful public and private stakeholders, rejecting commercial interests or longstanding informal customary practices as justifications for unethical professional conduct. He concluded by noting that Suriname’s projected future economic growth will only deliver durable, inclusive, sustainable benefits if paired with strong legal certainty, robust institutional integrity, and equitable legal protection for both ordinary citizens and local enterprises, urging the cohort of future legal professionals to prioritize accessible, ethical representation for marginalized communities facing powerful opposing parties. “Suriname has placed its highest hopes on its future, and that future rests on your shoulders,” Autar told the incoming law students.

  • Stochl Hall Reopens for Tourism Training

    Stochl Hall Reopens for Tourism Training

    On October 29, 2026, the Belize Tourism Board (BTB) and St. John’s College formalized a long-awaited collaborative memorandum of understanding to launch the Elevate Training Institute, a national specialized hospitality training hub housed in the long-shuttered Stochl Hall in downtown Belize City. The heritage facility, which had sat largely dormant for 15 consecutive years after ceasing operations in 2011, has been fully repurposed to deliver industry-aligned, hands-on professional training for Belizeans seeking to build globally competitive careers in the fast-growing tourism and hospitality sector.

    For decades, Stochl Hall previously served as St. John’s College’s extension campus, designed to provide second-chance educational pathways for learners who had not completed high school, a mission aligned closely with the legacy of the building’s namesake Father Stochl. The newly reimagined space now features a state-of-the-art dedicated teaching kitchen as the centerpiece of its culinary arts track, alongside specialized training zones for front desk operations, tour guiding, customer service excellence, and hospitality supervisory management.

    Evan Tillett, Director of the Belize Tourism Board, emphasized that the years-long initiative fills a critical gap in the country’s tourism ecosystem by moving beyond scattered ad-hoc training programs to establish a permanent, purpose-built physical hub for upskilling workers across every tier of the tourism industry. The $750,000 total investment for the Elevate Training Institute is fully funded by the BTB, and the program has secured formal partnerships with leading global industry accreditation bodies including the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute and the American Culinary Federation. A robust train-the-trainer framework has also been implemented to certify local Belizean instructors, ensuring long-term program sustainability and localized relevance for learners.

    St. John’s College President Mirtha Peralta noted that the existing institutional hospitality programming, which currently serves roughly 60 junior college students across pathways spanning secondary to tertiary levels, will see significant expansion through the new institute. Graduates of the program will earn internationally recognized industry certifications that unlock direct access to both senior tourism roles within Belize’s thriving hospitality sector and overseas employment or advanced higher education opportunities across the global tourism market.

  • Eden Lodge school closed, odour probe continues

    Eden Lodge school closed, odour probe continues

    Barbados’ Ministry of Education Transformation announced on Thursday that Eden Lodge Primary School, which also hosts a cohort of students from Good Shepherd Primary, will suspend all on-site operations until further notice, as authorities race to identify the source of a persistent, sharp malodour that has disrupted normal classroom activities for at least three consecutive days this week. Since the unusual scent was first detected on school grounds earlier this week, dozens of students and staff members have reported a range of uncomfortable physical reactions, including stinging, burning eyes, persistent nausea, sudden bouts of dizziness, itchy skin, and a lingering bitter aftertaste in the throat, prompting multiple unscheduled early dismissals that cut school days short repeatedly. Initial unconfirmed speculation among school communities pointed to a potential gas leak as the odour’s origin, and on Wednesday, on-site inspection teams from the Barbados Fire Service and the Barbados National Oil Company were deployed to the campus to conduct preliminary sweeps, according to on-site reporters from Barbados TODAY. As the probe expanded, the Ministry of Education Transformation confirmed it is now collaborating closely with the Ministry of Health and Wellness to carry out comprehensive, rigorous environmental testing across the school property and its surrounding environs to pinpoint the exact source of the fumes and verify that the area is fully safe for in-person learning to resume. The indefinite closure, which will first take effect for the scheduled school day on Friday, was framed by education officials as a proactive, precautionary measure to eliminate any potential health risks to students and faculty, with a pledge that parents, teachers and all school staff will receive immediate, transparent updates as soon as test results are finalized. Julian Pierre, chair of the Barbados Union of Teachers’ occupational safety and health committee, verified that the school’s union shop steward first flagged reports of the foul, pervasive scent drifting across the campus and its adjacent areas earlier this week, and confirmed that the unusual odour triggered adverse physical symptoms across both the student body and school staff. Many parents voiced significant frustration over the chaotic, last-minute disruption to their routines, with multiple caregivers telling Barbados TODAY they received contradictory, late notifications that first instructed them to send their children to school, only to be told to pick their kids up within hours of the school day starting. One parent based in the northern part of the island noted that repeated unscheduled departures from work to collect their child cost them lost pay with no compensation from the school, while another mother criticized the lack of clear, advance communication that forced working parents to scramble for last-minute childcare arrangements. A father who arrived to collect his daughter on Thursday said he had received no official updates explaining the root of the issue, and noted he planned to bring his child to his workplace on Friday rather than risk another round of unplanned, confusing schedule changes.

  • Verkorte schooltijden wegens hitte verlengd tot 15 november

    Verkorte schooltijden wegens hitte verlengd tot 15 november

    On October 29, the Surinamese Ministry of Education, Science and Culture officially announced a further extension of its modified reduced school schedule, which will now remain in effect through November 15, a move prompted by ongoing unseasonably high temperatures across the country. The adjusted timetable, which sends all primary school, VOJ, and VOS students home at 12 p.m. each school day, was first implemented when the 2024-2025 academic year kicked off on October 1. The ministry’s decision was directly informed by latest public advisories from the Meteorological Service Suriname, which has issued repeated warnings of sustained warm to extremely hot weather conditions that show no signs of abating in the first two weeks of November. This prolonged heat adaptation measure has cast a spotlight on longstanding systemic gaps in the nation’s school infrastructure: a large share of public school buildings lack adequate cross-ventilation or cooling systems to maintain a safe, comfortable learning environment for students and staff during heatwaves. Over the roughly six-week extended period of shortened school days, educators face significant pressure to cover all required curriculum content within a drastically reduced number of instructional hours. The disruption is expected to hit under-resourced schools the hardest, as many of these campuses already grapple with overlapping challenges including classroom shortages, understaffed teaching teams, and insufficient basic learning facilities. Notably, the official ministry statement did not outline any concrete plans to make up for the lost instructional time for students, nor did it detail any targeted investments or policy measures to upgrade school infrastructure to better withstand future extreme heat events.

  • Parham Primary and Antigua Girls High School Win 2026 Interschool Broiler Competition

    Parham Primary and Antigua Girls High School Win 2026 Interschool Broiler Competition

    A landmark hands-on educational initiative spearheaded by Antigua and Barbuda’s Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has wrapped up its 2026 Interschool Broiler Competition, naming Parham Primary School and Antigua Girls High School as overall top champions across the two respective age-based divisions. Running across a six-week window from early September through late October, the nationwide contest drew participation from 21 educational institutions spanning every district of the twin-island nation, designed to move textbook agricultural science curricula into tangible, real-world practice for students of all ages. A three-day independent judging panel review held between October 19 and 21 evaluated every participating school’s broiler rearing projects, measuring metrics ranging from animal welfare standards, farm management practices, yield outcomes, and student-led project documentation. In the combined preschool and primary school division, Parham Primary School claimed the coveted first-place trophy, with Sir Luther Wynter Preschool taking runner-up honors and S. R. Olivia David Primary School rounding out the top three positions. For the secondary school cohort, Antigua Girls High School outperformed all competing institutions to take the top rank, followed by Pares Secondary School in second place and Clare Hall Secondary School in third. Beyond the formal placement rankings, judges awarded special distinction honors for outstanding, innovative project execution: S. R. Olivia David Primary received the special excellence award for the younger student division, while Jennings Secondary School earned the equivalent recognition in the secondary school category. Senior officials from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology emphasized that the competition was crafted not merely as a contest, but as a structured learning pathway to equip students with tangible, career-relevant skills in sustainable poultry farming, while also fostering a new generation of young stewards for the country’s long-term food security resilience. The ministry extended formal commendations to all 21 participating schools, lauding administrators, teachers, and students for their consistent dedication to the program’s sustainable agriculture objectives, and congratulated the top prize winners for their exceptional commitment to best practices throughout the multi-month project. Parallel oversight and verification support was provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, whose on-ground teams documented the full judging process and conducted site visits to every participating campus, including the two top-winning institutions, to validate project outcomes and collect data to inform future iterations of the national educational agriculture program.

  • Hugh Campbell students to relocate during power repairs

    Hugh Campbell students to relocate during power repairs

    Freeport, Grand Bahama – Following widespread frustration from parents over a multi-day unannounced power outage at Hugh Campbell Primary School, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has confirmed it will relocate all students off-campus starting next week to facilitate full repairs of faulty underground electrical cabling that cut power to the Mahogany Street facility. The unplanned outage, which left the school without electricity for two consecutive days earlier this week, prompted dozens of complaints from caregivers who stated they received zero official communication from school or ministry leadership about the disruption, even as they arrived to drop off their children for classes. A concerned parent who reached out to local outlet The Tribune noted that powerless classrooms lacked adequate artificial lighting and functional ventilation systems, creating unsafe, unsuitable learning conditions for young students. The parent emphasized that while unforeseen infrastructure failures are understandable, transparent, timely updates to families are non-negotiable, as the educational progress, safety and overall well-being of enrolled children must be the administration’s top priority. When Tribune reporters visited the campus mid-week, the power supply was still fully offline; administrative staff had propped open office doors to circulate natural air, while students spent their lunch period outdoors as in-person classes continued without early dismissal at that point, even with no functioning utilities. The school principal was not present on campus during the visit, and on-site education representatives deferred all comments to the national Director of Education, who later released the formal public ministry statement. In the official announcement, the education ministry confirmed that all Hugh Campbell Primary students were dismissed at 1 p.m. on the Thursday of the outage week, with an identical early dismissal scheduled for the following Friday, before full relocation takes effect once repair supplies are delivered on site. Technical teams have been mobilized to complete the full wiring replacement project in roughly seven days, with temporary alternate learning arrangements coordinated to avoid extended loss of instructional hours for pupils. The ministry noted that full details of the relocation logistics will be shared directly with all parents and guardians via the school’s administrative team, and apologized for the significant disruption to families, while thanking the broader school community for its patience amid the works. This incident is the latest in a string of widely criticized power failure disruptions at public government schools across the region since the fall academic term kicked off in September. Deputy Prime Minister and sitting Education Minister Chester Cooper has previously framed such outages as minor inconveniences, noting that official ministry guidance directs school staff to continue holding in-person classes whenever possible rather than sending students home immediately following a power cut. The ongoing spate of school electrical failures has drawn repeated public pushback from Opposition deputy leader Shanendon Cartwright, who has repeatedly pressed the sitting administration to release a formal, documented contingency plan outlining how the education system will sustain normal school operations during extended, unplanned power outages. Hugh Campbell Primary has a well-documented history of severe power-related disruptions: back in June 2014, the facility was one of 18 Grand Bahama public schools that had their service fully disconnected by Grand Bahama Power Company, after the government accumulated more than $1 million in unpaid utility bills, an issue that was only resolved when the Ministry of Finance stepped in to settle the outstanding debt.

  • “Our Children Deserve the Very Best,” Geoffrey Hanley says New Basseterre High School is taking shape – WIC News

    “Our Children Deserve the Very Best,” Geoffrey Hanley says New Basseterre High School is taking shape – WIC News

    In a recent public update shared via official social media, St. Kitts and Nevis Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Dr. Geoffrey Hanley has celebrated the advancing construction of the highly anticipated new Basseterre High School, framing the landmark project as a transformative long-term investment in the nation’s youth and collective future. Hanley joined Ministry of Education officials and key local stakeholders for an on-site tour of the construction grounds on July 10, 2026, where he witnessed first-hand active work underway on the campus’s auditorium, purpose-built science laboratories, and classroom blocks A and B. During his walkthrough, the Deputy Prime Minister took time to personally connect with on-site construction crews, expressing sincere gratitude for their consistent diligence and day-to-day dedication to bringing the long-envisioned campus to life. “Seeing this plan, that we have nurtured for years, take tangible shape before my eyes is not just exciting, it is deeply heart-warming,” Hanley shared in his public post. “Every beam laid, every wall erected, reminds me of the generations of young lives that will learn, grow, and pursue their dreams within these walls.” The project timeline stretches back to December 2023, when the aging original Basseterre High School was safely demolished, followed by a 18-month pre-construction planning phase that culminated in official groundbreaking for the new build in June 2025. Announced by the federal government in December 2024, the purpose-designed campus is engineered to be fully climate-resilient, a critical feature for the Caribbean island nation that faces rising risks of extreme tropical weather. When fully completed as a turnkey facility, the school will host 32 spacious modern classrooms, preserve the iconic 400-meter running track that made the old Basseterre High campus a community sports hub, and add dedicated, regulation-standard facilities for basketball, netball, and football. In a deliberate move to prioritize local economic empowerment, the government awarded the construction contract to a Kittitian-owned firm, with project guidelines mandating that up to 95% of the entire on-site workforce be recruited from local communities. Hanley emphasized that the facility is far more than a standard educational infrastructure project, noting that both students and teaching staff have long deserved a world-class, state-of-the-art learning environment that matches their potential. “We are moving forward step by step, and every milestone we hit brings us closer to delivering the space our children and educators have earned,” he stated. “Our children deserve the very best, and this campus will be the physical embodiment of that commitment to their success.”

  • Education Minister Octavia Alfred – Dominica 11.3 per cent above regional average in CSEC

    Education Minister Octavia Alfred – Dominica 11.3 per cent above regional average in CSEC

    At the historic first-ever National Schools’ Awards ceremony hosted at Goodwill Parish Hall this week, Dominica’s Minister of Education Octavia Alfred unveiled a suite of landmark academic performance results that position the island nation as a leading performer across the Caribbean secondary education landscape.
    Minister Alfred shared that national pass rates for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC), administered by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), stand 11.3 percentage points higher than the regional average, a milestone that far outpaces peer nations across the Caribbean Community. Further granular data shows that Dominica outperforms the regional benchmark in 30 out of 32 individual CSEC subject areas, with a striking 92% of students earning passing grades in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) coursework, a priority area for workforce development across the region.
    The minister also highlighted steady, ongoing progress in foundational core competencies: pass rates for the Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCLLC) have climbed to 88.4% for English and 94.9% for mathematics, while national literacy and numeracy metrics continue their upward trajectory. Alfred noted that while the jurisdiction has much to celebrate, targeted improvement efforts are still underway to boost student outcomes in creative writing.
    The landmark awards ceremony, organized to recognize exceptional academic achievement across the island’s school system, bestowed honours on 42 high-achieving students, marking the first official national celebration of secondary education excellence in Dominica’s recent history.

  • VHP-fractieleden dienen drie initiatiefwetten in voor hervorming hoger onderwijs

    VHP-fractieleden dienen drie initiatiefwetten in voor hervorming hoger onderwijs

    On October 29, three members of Suriname’s National Assembly (DNA) from the Progressive Reform Party (VHP) — Hakiem Lalmahomed, Cheryl Dijksteel, and Natalie Amatmohamed — formally submitted a trio of interconnected draft laws designed to drive sweeping modernization of the country’s outdated higher education framework. The legislative package, comprising the General Higher Education Act, the Higher Education Accreditation Act, and the 2026 Anton de Kom University of Suriname (AdeKUS) Act, aims to replace decades-old regulatory rules, align domestic tertiary education with global quality benchmarks, and better match graduate skill sets to the demands of Suriname’s labor market. The proposed General Higher Education Act establishes a unified, overarching legal framework for all tertiary institutions, including traditional universities, vocational higher education colleges, and open distance learning universities. It mandates the creation of a centralized public higher education registry that documents all accredited institutions and their approved programs, while formalizing legal recognition for standardized academic pathways from Associate Degree to PhD level. Additional provisions formalize rules for credit hour calculations, study load weighting, official academic degree titles, and support the expansion of dual education tracks that integrate classroom learning with on-the-job professional experience to narrow the gap between academic curricula and private sector needs. The bill also sets out transparent subsidy allocation criteria that tie public funding to program quality and demonstrated societal demand for graduate skills. The second proposed law, the Higher Education Accreditation Act, overhauls Suriname’s existing fragmented quality assurance system by establishing an independent national accreditation body (NOVA) tasked with conducting regular, impartial audits of both existing and newly proposed tertiary programs. A public, easily searchable accreditation registry will be launched to give students, parents, and employers clear visibility into which programs meet national quality standards. The legislation also introduces a formal equivalence review process to recognize valid foreign institutional accreditations, a reform the sponsors note will boost the international comparability of Surinamese degrees, support cross-border recognition of qualifications, and align with CARICOM’s regional goals for the free movement of skilled tertiary-educated professionals. The third standalone bill, the 2026 AdeKUS Act, updates the 1966-era university law that currently governs Suriname’s flagship national tertiary institution, which sponsors say is no longer fit to support modern academic and research operations. The new legislation installs a streamlined two-tier governance structure, with a dedicated executive management board and an independent supervisory board to oversee institutional operations. It also clarifies the roles and responsibilities of individual faculties, cross-faculty collaborative divisions, and affiliated research institutes, while embedding formal protections for academic freedom, institutional commitments to public community service, and structured support for peer-reviewed scientific research alongside formalized regulations for bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral graduation pathways. The three VHP parliamentarians emphasized that the coordinated, interconnected nature of the legislative package ensures no gaps in regulatory coverage across the entire higher education ecosystem, rather than implementing piecemeal, isolated reforms. They stressed that elevated higher education quality is a foundational driver of long-term economic growth and inclusive social development for Suriname, and the full package of reforms will significantly improve the global and regional competitiveness of Surinamese graduates in the cross-border labor market.

  • Power outage at GB school leaves students in the dark

    Power outage at GB school leaves students in the dark

    A public primary school in Freeport, Grand Bahama, left students navigating dim, poorly ventilated classrooms for two full consecutive days this week, with school administrators failing to notify guardians of the extended power disruption, according to a frustrated parent who contacted local outlet The Tribune to flag the issue.
    When Tribune reporters visited the Hugh Campbell Primary School campus on Mahogany Street in Freeport during school hours the day after the 48-hour outage concluded, electricity service had still not been restored. Administrative staff had propped open all office doors to circulate stagnant air through the uncooled building, while regular class schedules remained in place rather than being suspended, with students taking their lunch break outdoors to escape the stuffy, unlit interior spaces.
    The concerned parent, who first alerted the newsroom to the crisis, explained they only discovered the outage was ongoing for a second straight day when they dropped their child off at the campus that morning, with no prior heads-up from the school or district leadership. “When these disruptions stop being rare one-off incidents and turn into a recurring pattern, parents have every right to clear, timely communication confirming the problem is being actively resolved,” the parent shared in their written correspondence to The Tribune.
    They emphasized that unpowered classrooms lack both adequate overhead lighting for reading and functional air circulation systems, making learning conditions far from safe or conducive for young children. While acknowledging that unforeseen utility failures can happen to any facility, the parent stressed that families should never be left completely in the dark about disruptions that directly impact their children’s daily school experience. “Our kids’ educational progress, physical safety, and overall well-being have to be the non-negotiable top priority for school leadership,” the parent stated. “We are asking for clear answers, and full transparency about what concrete steps are being put in place to guarantee our children have access to a learning environment that meets their basic needs. These concerned parents deserve to have their voices taken seriously.”
    During the news outlet’s on-site visit, the school’s principal was not present on campus, and staff directed reporters to reach out to the local district superintendent or a senior leader at the national Ministry of Education. When Tribune staff arrived at the ministry’s central offices, they were informed that all senior education officials were locked in a scheduled meeting with public school principals across the region. Deputy Director of Education Michelle Bowleg later responded to media inquiries with a note that Director of Education Dominique McCartney-Russell would release a formal public statement addressing the outage later that same evening. As of the paper’s official press deadline, no such statement had been issued, and neither McCartney-Russell nor Bahamas Union of Teachers president Belinda Wilson had replied to repeated requests for comment. To date, no public information has been shared about the root cause of the extended outage, or whether the disruption was isolated to Hugh Campbell Primary or impacted surrounding community facilities as well.
    This latest parent complaint is part of a broader wave of public frustration over persistent, unaddressed power failures at government-run schools across Grand Bahama since the fall academic term kicked off in September. Deputy Prime Minister and sitting Education Minister Chester Cooper has previously characterized these recurring outages as a minor “inconvenience,” noting that ministry policy directs school staff to keep classes running as normally as possible rather than sending students home immediately when power cuts out. Opposition deputy leader Shanendon Cartwright has repeatedly called on the education ministry to release its full formal contingency plan for sustaining school operations through prolonged, multi-day power disruptions, demanding accountability for the lack of preparation.
    This is not the first time Hugh Campbell Primary has been at the center of a high-profile power outage controversy: back in June 2014, the campus was one of 18 public schools across Grand Bahama that had their utility service disconnected entirely by the Grand Bahama Power Company, after the government accumulated more than $1 million in unpaid utility bills. The service was only restored after the Ministry of Finance intervened to settle the full outstanding debt.