标签： Dominica

The Commonwealth of Dominica Police Force (CDPF) has publicly recognized two of its members for a key professional milestone, following their successful graduation from a region-wide specialized training program focused on upgrading law enforcement instructional and training capabilities across the Caribbean.

Corporal Kerry Shillingford and Acting Corporal Bernard Darroux are the two officers who have recently wrapped up the requirements for the Training and Development Level 4 Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ). The intensive 21-day course was hosted at the Regional Security System (RSS) Training Institute, with funding provided by the RSS and logistical and instructional support delivered by the TVET Council.

Unlike standard operational law enforcement training, this program was specifically built to cultivate skilled in-house trainers across regional police forces. It gathered law enforcement staff from multiple Caribbean island nations to collaborate and build core competencies needed to design, run, and assess effective professional development courses within their own home agencies. Participants left the program with hands-on practical skills and evidence-based knowledge that they can immediately apply to internal training initiatives.

In an official statement released after the graduation, leadership of the CDPF extended full congratulations to Shillingford and Darroux, highlighting their consistent dedication to personal improvement and institutional advancement throughout the course. The force emphasized that the new skills and qualifications earned by the two officers will deliver long-term value to the entire organization, by boosting the quality of internal training, strengthening leadership pipelines, and lifting overall operational capacity through structured staff development.
“This achievement is a clear reflection of the two officers’ commitment to upholding high standards of excellence in policing, and their proactive efforts to lift up both the institution and their fellow officers,” the statement added.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) team based in Barbados and the wider Caribbean region is mourning the unexpected passing of Dr. Shelly-Ann Cox, Barbados’ top official leading the nation’s fisheries sector. Over the course of her tenure, FAO and Dr. Cox built a robust, productive partnership focused on elevating fisheries and aquaculture development across the island and the broader Caribbean basin. Dr. Cox emerged as an indispensable strategic collaborator in advancing FAO’s Blue Transformation vision, which centers on building a fully sustainable aquatic food economy. In just three years serving as Chief Fisheries Officer, she left an indelible mark on the sector, driven by her sharp technical knowledge, inclusive leadership style, and unwavering dedication to expanding opportunities for young people in fisheries work. Her vision for fishing communities, paired with her unmatched passion and commitment, set her apart as a transformative leader in the region.

One of Dr. Cox’s most defining contributions came during the final drafting and approval phase of Barbados’ 10-year Fisheries Policy, covering 2023 to 2033, an initiative developed with direct support from FAO. Under her guidance, the policy broke new ground by introducing innovative frameworks to add value to fish by-products, turning material long categorized as fishing waste into new avenues for economic growth and environmental sustainability. Her ability to turn high-level policy goals into tangible, actionable change has since become a model for other Caribbean nations working to advance their own sustainable fisheries development pathways.

Plans to update and modernize Barbados’ aging fisheries legislation first emerged before the COVID-19 pandemic, when stakeholders identified gaps in the existing regulatory framework. When public health priorities shifted immediate focus to developing the overarching national fisheries policy under the FAO-supported StewardFish Project, Dr. Cox never lost sight of the broader goal of building a resilient, sustainable national aquatic food system. Building on the foundational work from the policy development process, Dr. Cox stepped into a leading role guiding the legislative process that ultimately produced the 2025 Sustainable Fisheries Management and Development Act, a landmark bill spearheaded by the Government of Barbados.

Her technical expertise and steady leadership shaped every section of the new legislation, which strengthens national fisheries governance, advances ambitious environmental protection targets, expands social protections for workers across the fisheries sector, and ensures Barbados maintains critical access to international markets by meeting the compliance standards of the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act. Through these foundational policy and legislative wins, Dr. Cox secured a permanent, positive impact on the sustainable management of Barbados’ fisheries resources and the thousands of livelihoods that depend on them.

In a 2026 meeting with senior FAO leadership held just months before her passing, Dr. Cox shared her bold, clear vision for the future: that Barbados could reach a target of zero fish waste by 2028. That ambitious goal reflected both her relentless drive for progress and her confidence in the work already underway to build a circular, sustainable bioeconomy for the nation’s aquatic food sector.

Dr. Cox’s final collaborative projects with FAO further highlighted her lifelong commitment to lifting regional fisheries capacity. At the time of her passing, she was wrapping up work on a new publication focused on anchored Fish Aggregating Devices (aFADs), a common and essential fishing tool across the Caribbean, and had just launched a regional study on dolphinfish maturity. Barbados was selected as the pilot country for this regional research initiative by the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC), a decision that reflected the widespread regional confidence in Dr. Cox’s leadership and Barbados’ advanced technical capacity.

Tributes have continued to flow in from across the region from colleagues, partner organizations, and industry stakeholders who worked with Dr. Cox on FAO-supported initiatives, many of whom have shared how her work impacted their own careers and projects. Beyond her long list of professional achievements, Dr. Cox is remembered for her genuine kindness, contagious enthusiasm for her work, and steady commitment to lifting up other people. Her collaborative approach brought diverse stakeholders together around a shared vision, her leadership inspired confidence and tangible action, and her caring character left a lasting impression on everyone she worked with.

While the sudden loss of Dr. Cox has left a deep gap across the communities and institutions she served, the impact of her life’s work and the memories she created will continue to shape fisheries development across Barbados, the Caribbean, and beyond for decades to come. On behalf of the FAO Subregional Office and Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, Dr. Renata Clarke, FAO Subregional Coordinator, and Yvette Diei Ouadi, FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Officer, paid tribute to her life and legacy.

The Dominica Cancer Society (DCS), a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting cancer patients and their families across the island nation, has officially announced plans for its 2026 Annual General Meeting (AGM), scheduled to take place Saturday, June 27 at the UWI Open Campus Dominica location on Elmshall Road in Roseau. The gathering is set to kick off at 9:00 a.m. local time, according to an official press release published by the organization.

This year’s AGM is framed as a critical open forum for both existing DCS members and community members interested in joining the non-profit. Attendees will have the opportunity to conduct a full review of the organization’s programming, activities, and key milestones achieved over the previous 12 months, before turning to collaborative conversations about upcoming strategic goals and institutional priorities. Beyond formal reporting, the meeting will empower attendees to take an active role in the DCS’s governance, giving community stakeholders direct input into the direction the organization will take in its work moving forward.

During the session, DCS leadership will present a series of comprehensive reports covering the status of ongoing community programs, the organization’s full financial performance for the past year, and updates on ongoing support services for people living with cancer and their loved ones across Dominica. After the presentation of reports, members will deliberate on the DCS’s core strategic objectives and high-priority focus areas for the 2026-2027 operational year.

The DCS reaffirmed its long-standing core mission in the press release: to expand public education and awareness around cancer, push for widespread adoption of prevention practices and routine early screening, provide holistic support for anyone impacted by the disease, and improve overall quality of life for both patients and their family members. The organization has issued a formal call for all registered members to prioritize attendance and active participation in the upcoming meeting, emphasizing that member engagement is central to the DCS’s community-centered mission.

For any community members or members seeking additional details about the meeting, including registration requirements or accommodation requests, the DCS notes that further information can be obtained by reaching out directly to the organization’s administrative team.

In contemporary educational discourse, few teaching frameworks have garnered as much widespread acclaim as differentiated instruction. The core premise of this student-centered approach is straightforward: while retaining uniform learning objectives for an entire class, educators adapt curricula, instructional strategies, and assessment activities to align with the unique learning needs, abilities, and preferences of individual students. It offers learners multiple pathways to access new content, process complex information, and demonstrate their mastery of core concepts. For many advocates, this flexible pedagogical model stands in deliberate opposition to the one-size-fits-all culture of standardized testing that dominates education systems across the globe.

Yet for all its well-deserved recognition as a step toward more personalized learning, differentiated instruction is far from a universal cure for the deep-seated shortcomings plaguing modern education systems, argues veteran educator and social commentator Wayne Campbell. One of the most overlooked risks of overreliance on differentiation, Campbell notes, is the unintended consequence of dumbed-down content for struggling learners and the systematic neglect of high-achieving students. When educators oversimplify lessons to accommodate learners who face challenges, they often inadvertently lower overall academic standards, while overachievers are left without the stimulation and challenge they need to grow. This neglect of high-performing students rarely makes it into official reports, but Campbell emphasizes it is far more common than many education leaders acknowledge. This hidden gap, he argues, is one of the core reasons annual school ranking systems are inherently flawed.

Campbell uses the Jamaican education system’s Primary Exit Profile (PEP) as a case study to illustrate broader systemic issues. PEP exam results are the primary determinant of high school placement, but well-connected parents often leverage their networks to secure spots for their children at institutions labeled as high-performing, perpetuating educational inequity. Compounding this placement inequity is the pervasive culture of over-testing that has taken root in many education systems. It is no surprise, Campbell notes, that a large share of students arrive at high school already emotionally and academically burnt out from years of constant testing. This relentless focus on high-stakes assessment strips students of the opportunity to engage in authentic, meaningful learning, a cost that is rarely counted in official education metrics.

A particularly contentious issue Campbell raises is the growing trend of using differentiated instruction as a scapegoat for systemic failures to address special education needs. In many cases, general education teachers are expected to use differentiation to accommodate students with severe language-based learning disorders, autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, and other disabilities. This leads to a harmful misdirection of blame: differentiated instruction itself is not the source of poor learning outcomes for these students. The root cause, Campbell argues, is the failure of societies to meet the rapidly growing demand for specialized special education placements, a gap that is directly responsible for widening learning gaps and unequal educational outcomes across student groups.

The core problem here is systemic underinvestment in special education, a global crisis that affects education systems in both high-income and low-income nations alike. Campbell points out that despite surging demand for specialized services, most governments allocate less than 5% of their total education budgets to special education. This underinvestment leaves a disproportionate share of children with disabilities excluded from quality mainstream and specialized schooling. Common manifestations of this underfunding include a crippling shortage of specialized infrastructure: many schools lack accessible facilities, assistive technology, and adapted learning materials that are non-negotiable for supporting students with disabilities. Compounding this is a widespread shortage of specially trained teachers, leaving general education classrooms understaffed and generalist teachers unprepared to support complex special education needs. Too often, Campbell argues, policymakers expect general public schools to absorb students with a wide range of specialized needs without providing the additional funding, training, or infrastructure required to serve them effectively. Teachers are then penalized in annual performance appraisals for failing to implement sufficient differentiation, effectively asking them to deliver results without the tools to succeed.

Beyond the special education debate, Campbell explores the persistent fundamental tension between modern pedagogical ideals and high-stakes assessment practices. As the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines it, pedagogy is the combined art and science of teaching, encompassing the full range of strategies educators use to foster learning, from understanding how students absorb information to designing instructional materials and measuring learning outcomes. Quality pedagogy prioritizes student-centered learning, inquiry-based exploration, and critical thinking. But modern assessment regimes overwhelmingly prioritize standardized, summative testing that reduces complex learning to narrow, quantifiable outcomes. This fundamental misalignment pressures teachers to prioritize test preparation over the kind of inquiry-based learning that fosters long-term growth, narrowing the overall curriculum and eroding the authenticity of the educational experience.

Even in ideal mainstream classroom settings, differentiated instruction carries practical risks that are often downplayed by advocates. Consistently implementing high-quality differentiation across every lesson is extremely difficult, particularly in overcrowded, under-resourced classrooms. One common harmful outcome is labeling: when students receive modified assignments, they often recognize that their work is easier or harder than that of their peers, which can damage self-esteem and create harmful social stigma around different ability levels. Time constraints are another major barrier: designing and delivering differentiated lessons takes far more time than one-size-fits-all instruction, which can leave teachers struggling to cover the full required curriculum within the academic year. In some cases, students who receive consistent customized support can become overly dependent on individualized accommodations, leaving them ill-prepared to work independently in less adaptive post-secondary or workplace environments. Overemphasis on differentiation can also undermine equity: when some students receive disproportionate amounts of teacher time and limited resources, it can leave other students with unmet needs.

Campbell emphasizes that the goal of meeting individual student needs is a worthy one, and educators must continue striving to adapt their practice to support all learners. But a balanced approach is required to benefit both students and teachers. If education systems are going to continue pushing for widespread differentiation, Campbell argues, a corresponding paradigm shift from standardized testing to personalized assessment is logically required. Unfortunately, this shift remains largely impractical for most large-scale education systems today. At its core, education is a deeply human practice: teachers are not unthinking robots programmed to deliver a set curriculum, and students are not passive machines waiting to be filled with knowledge. Every learner brings a unique set of strengths, needs, and learning styles to the classroom. What is most urgently needed, Campbell concludes, is not more pressure on teachers to perfect differentiation, but targeted systemic investment and policy change to resolve the fundamental tension between modern pedagogical ideals and outdated assessment and resourcing models.

Nearly a decade after Hurricane Maria devastated the Caribbean island of Dominica in 2017, leaving widespread destruction in its wake, government leaders are renewing calls for collective readiness as the 2026 Atlantic Hurricane Season officially gets underway. The six-month storm period, which runs from June 1 through November 30, has Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit emphasizing that proactive preparation remains the most critical defense against potential weather threats, even with a favorable official forecast.

In a recent press briefing addressing the nation, Skerrit called on every resident of Dominica to take immediate, practical steps to secure themselves, their loved ones, their properties, and their commercial operations ahead of any possible storm activity. “I want to remind you of the importance of preparation as the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season gets underway,” Skerrit said. “I encourage every Dominican to take the necessary steps to prepare themselves, their families, homes, and businesses for potential weather events.”

Skerrit confirmed that the Dominican government has already completed a series of coordinated readiness measures to respond to potential emergencies. The country’s National Emergency Planning Organization (NEPO) recently held a full convening to walk through national preparedness frameworks, evaluate the operational readiness of core response agencies, and align inter-agency response plans for different storm scenarios. As part of these pre-season checks, all public emergency shelters have undergone inspection to confirm they meet safety and operational standards, stockpiles of emergency supplies have been audited and restocked as needed, and relevant government departments remain in active preparedness mode ahead of any developing systems.

Over the past nine years following Hurricane Maria, the Dominican government has directed substantial investment into upgrading the island’s disaster resilience, from reinforcing critical infrastructure to building more storm-resistant housing, expanding and upgrading emergency shelter networks, and overhauling national disaster preparedness coordination systems. Even with these structural improvements in place, Skerrit stressed that collective safety depends on shared responsibility between the government and individual residents. “Every household and every business should have an emergency plan, secure important documents, review emergency supplies, and stay informed through official channels,” he asserted.

Skerrit reminded the public that a single severe storm can cause irreversible damage and upend countless lives, regardless of overall seasonal predictions. “It takes just one storm to have a significant impact. Let us approach this season with vigilance, responsibility, and a commitment to looking out for each other,” he said.

In a conflicting note for residents, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is forecasting a high probability of a below-normal 2026 Atlantic Hurricane Season. The agency’s current projections estimate that between 8 and 14 named storms – weather systems defined by sustained wind speeds of at least 39 miles per hour – will develop across the Atlantic basin this season. Of these named systems, NOAA expects 3 to 6 will strengthen into hurricanes, which carry sustained wind speeds of 74 miles per hour or higher. Additionally, forecasters project 1 to 3 of these hurricanes will intensify into major hurricanes, ranked as Category 3, 4, or 5 storms with sustained wind speeds exceeding 111 miles per hour.