标签： Grenada

The Investment Migration Agency (IMA) of Grenada has recently concluded its third annual Back-to-School Trivia competition, culminating in a celebratory prizegiving ceremony that recognized eight standout student participants spanning from primary school to higher education. This community-focused initiative, which operated throughout the summer months of July and August, was crafted to combine engagement, learning, and practical support for local families gearing up for the new academic term.

Unlike typical summer leisure activities, the trivia competition challenged participants to test their knowledge across four key domains: Grenada’s local history, national cultural heritage, ongoing national development projects, and the strategic public-facing programs run by IMA Grenada. From its launch, the initiative has been anchored in the agency’s long-standing commitment to advancing youth development, strengthening educational outcomes, and driving positive impact across Grenadian communities.

This year’s awardees walked away with tangible, practical rewards to support their academic journeys. Each of the eight winners received a EC$500 gift voucher that can be redeemed at local retailers for essential back-to-school supplies, covering everything from notebooks and writing tools to textbooks and uniforms. One exceptional participant also took home the competition’s grand prize: a brand-new Samsung tablet, a tool designed to enhance remote research, facilitate digital assignment completion, and extend learning opportunities beyond the traditional classroom walls.

Karline Purcell, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of IMA Grenada, highlighted the core mission behind the annual initiative in her remarks at the ceremony. “The concept behind this project is simple but carries deep meaning,” Purcell explained. “We wanted to give students a productive, engaging activity to fill their summer break that was both educational and rewarding. By encouraging young people to dive into research, practice critical thinking, and deepen their understanding of Grenada’s unique history, culture and ongoing development, we are helping foster lifelong curiosity, build personal confidence, and nurture a strong sense of national awareness.”

Purcell also emphasized that the gift voucher prizes address a very real financial burden many local families face ahead of each school year. “By providing these vouchers, we are able to offer support that is both timely and directly useful to households across the country,” she added.

The Back-to-School Trivia initiative aligns with IMA Grenada’s core organizational belief: that strategic investment in the country’s young generation is equivalent to investing in a stronger, more prosperous future for Grenada as a whole. Following the ceremony, agency representatives extended warm congratulations to all eight award winners, and offered sincere gratitude to parents, guardians, and every participating student who took part in this year’s competition.

Disclaimer: This content was contributed by IMA Grenada, and NOW Grenada does not take responsibility for the opinions, statements, or media shared by third-party contributors. Users may report any content that violates community guidelines through the official reporting channel on the platform.

Against a backdrop of rapid global digital transformation, regional economic bodies are stepping up efforts to equip young workforces with future-ready technical skills. The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), backed by funding from the Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund, has launched the third iteration of its Generative AI and Python Summer Camp, a groundbreaking initiative designed to ready young people across the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) for the competitive demands of the modern digital economy.

Unlike previous editions that centered on simulated learning projects, the 2026 camp introduces a game-changing new component: direct, hands-on collaboration with real enterprise and public-sector clients to tackle tangible, on-the-ground challenges. For the ECCB, this training program is far more than a seasonal youth activity — it forms a core pillar of the bank’s broader strategy to drive regional economic transformation and build a competitive, future-ready local workforce.

“What the camp does is that it arms our youth to be able to have the competencies to compete at a global level in the digital space. And this is what it’s all about,” explained Sybil Welsh, ECCB Project Manager and Senior Project Specialist. This year’s move beyond simulated projects places participants directly in authentic work environments, where they are tasked with identifying client pain points and co-developing innovative, practical solutions. Welsh emphasized that this immersive model pushes young learners to exceed their own perceived limits: “When you have a real client, what you do is immerse our young people in real-life skills, a real innovation lab. You have real clients, you have real projects, and now you really inspire our young people to do all that they need to do, to dig deep, to go beyond what they thought was possible, to meet and I would say even surpass the expectations of clients.”

Telly Onu, the camp’s Lead Trainer, Instructional Design Specialist and Chatbot Edition Hub Coordinator, noted that the real-client model fosters holistic professional growth alongside technical coding proficiency. Beyond mastering generative AI and Python, participants build soft skills that are critical for long-term career success. “The key skills that they really learn, number one, is really problem solving. They all had several meetings with their clients. So obviously they learn how to now do consultative engagements. They build their confidence in that way so they can conduct client interviews, do requirements collection. So basically, each team, we train them on how a real development team actually works,” Onu said.

For the young participants hailing from across ECCU member states, the experience has already delivered transformative personal and professional growth, with many highlighting the unique value of working on live projects. Nia Jack, a 16-year-old participant from St Kitts and Nevis, helped build a custom chatbot for the ASPIRE Programme, a government financial literacy initiative that teaches young people about saving and investing from an early age. “It’s been really fulfilling. I, as a 16-year-old, having the honour of working with the Aspire Programme,” Jack shared.

Simlet Pierre, a participant from St Vincent and the Grenadines, credited the camp with helping him develop critical leadership and collaboration skills he had previously struggled with. “A lot of persons used to tell me that I’m a bit self-centred, so I’ve worked …in large groups. Now I am leading a group of 20 members, to be exact,” Pierre said.

Emma Morris, another St Kitts and Nevis participant, described the experience as equal parts challenging and rewarding. “It was stressful at times for sure because, you know, these are real clients and real people with real needs and having to meet their needs and make sure you make a product that is good enough to not only satisfy them, but satisfy their customer engagement,” Morris said. “So it was challenging, but once we got it done, it felt really nice.”

Alisha Gordon of Grenada called the program transformative, highlighting how it has built foundational skills that will serve her throughout her future career. “It was an incredible and transformative experience. We worked as a team, and we built up a foundation in coding, and I feel like I developed my presentation skills and communication skills,” Gordon said. “The camp has given me the opportunity to learn skills that I know I can use in the future. Working with a real client was especially valuable because we had to listen to their needs, understand the problem and then work together to find a solution.”

Program facilitators echoed participants’ positive assessments, noting that the camp moves far beyond passive technology education to active problem-solving. Kelvin Pompey, an Assistant Facilitator from St Vincent and the Grenadines, highlighted the shift participants have made in understanding the power of collaborative work: “They realised for themselves what they can do together as a group and as a team.”

Eugine Whint, an Assistant Facilitator from Grenada, emphasized that the camp places young Eastern Caribbean learners at the cutting edge of global technological development, giving them a years-long head start on in-demand skills. “This programme is really advanced. What (the campers) are doing are things that, to be honest, people in 5 years’ time will be like, wow, why didn’t I do that before? They are at the forefront of technology,” Whint said.

Co-sponsored by the ECCB and the Republic of China (Taiwan), the 2026 camp also operates in partnership with education ministries across all ECCU member states and specialized delivery partners. The program will conclude on 28 August 2026 with a public showcase, where participating teams will present their completed AI and Python projects to clients, stakeholders and the public, demonstrating the skills and solutions they have built over the course of the camp.

Through initiatives like this Generative AI and Python Summer Camp, the ECCB continues to invest in building a new generation of digitally skilled young leaders who are prepared not only to participate in the evolving global digital economy, but to shape the future growth of the Eastern Caribbean region.

Recent public debate surrounding the Caribbean Targeted Education Certificate (CTEC) has centered on critical questions around academic standards, grading frameworks, and how the program’s modular assessments count toward the final Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) qualification. In an official clarification from the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), Registrar and Chief Executive Officer Wayne Wesley, PhD, CMgr, addresses these concerns head-on, working to clear up widespread misconceptions and give regional education stakeholders a transparent breakdown of how the new system operates.

First and foremost, Wesley emphasizes that CTEC in no way weakens long-held CXC academic standards. The modular assessment model only changes when and how learning is evaluated and accumulated, not the core knowledge, understanding, and skills that students are required to master to earn a CSEC qualification.

One of the most persistent myths about CTEC is that modular assessments are less rigorous than the traditional single-sitting CSEC examinations. This claim is entirely unfounded, Wesley explains. All CTEC modular assessments are built from the same syllabi, aligned to the same learning objectives, and developed under the exact same assessment specifications that govern traditional CSEC exams. Even the question difficulty and format match what students encounter in full, traditional CSEC assessments, meaning learners must demonstrate the identical level of knowledge, skills, and competency expected of all CSEC candidates.

Beyond assessment design, the entire grading and quality assurance process remains unchanged. CTEC exams are marked, moderated and graded using the same rigorous systems that have protected the integrity of CXC qualifications for decades: including consistent examiner moderation protocols, psychometric performance analysis, and standardized grading procedures. The level of rigor, objectivity and fairness that regional stakeholders trust remains fully intact. The only meaningful difference is that students can demonstrate their learning progress in incremental, manageable stages, rather than facing a single high-stakes exam at the end of their course of study.

CTEC’s grading framework is also not an untested new system, but rather builds on long-familiar structures already used across Caribbean education. The Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) has reported results by individual modules for decades, and CSEC has long used two parallel grading scales: overall subject grades from I to VI, and profile grades from A to F. CTEC adapts this familiar A-F scale to report performance on individual modules, making it easy for students, parents, educators, employers and tertiary institutions to track a candidate’s progress. Under the system, grades A through D count as acceptable levels of module completion, while E and F indicate the student needs additional development to meet the required standard.

Each grade comes with a clear descriptive definition that provides actionable feedback: A marks excellent mastery of module content, B indicates good understanding, C stands for fairly good command, D is moderate mastery, E reflects limited understanding, and F marks very limited grasp of key concepts and skills. These descriptors give students and teachers targeted insight into performance gaps, enabling targeted interventions to drive improvement before the final certification is awarded.

Another key point of public confusion has been how modular grades factor into the final CSEC qualification. Wesley makes clear that individual module grades do not constitute full standalone qualifications. Instead, they act as micro-credentials that document a candidate’s achievement in discrete sections of a full subject, and all module grades are aggregated to calculate the final overall CSEC grade. No single module pass counts as completing the full subject; candidates must successfully complete all required modules to earn a final CSEC subject grade. The recognized overall CSEC grade remains the official final certification for the subject, with the modular pathway acting only as a structured, incremental route for students to build up their demonstrated achievement toward that qualification.

To protect the integrity of the grading system, strict rules are in place to ensure final grades accurately reflect consistent performance across all areas of a subject. Because the final grade is based on results from every required module, a candidate who earns a D in any module cannot be awarded the highest possible overall grade of I in their final CSEC result. This rule reinforces the core principle that outstanding overall achievement requires strong performance across every component of a subject, preserving the value of a top CSEC grade for employers and tertiary institutions that rely on CXC qualifications to assess candidate ability.

Unlike the traditional single-exam model, CTEC’s modular framework also offers meaningful flexibility for students to improve their performance. If a candidate is unsatisfied with their grade on a specific module, they can retake that individual module following CXC’s standard registration procedures. This lets students target gaps in their knowledge and improve their performance before the final subject grade is calculated, expanding opportunities for student success without lowering the bar for academic achievement.

Wesley frames the introduction of CTEC’s modular assessment as a deliberate balance between innovation and institutional integrity, aligned with CXC’s core mission to expand access to certification across the Caribbean without compromising the standards that have earned CXC regional and international recognition. The modular approach does not make qualifications easier, reduce required learning outcomes, or lower academic expectations. Instead, it offers students a more flexible pathway to demonstrate mastery of the same syllabus objectives, meet the same performance standards, and earn the same respected CSEC qualification that the region has relied on for generations.

The only evolution is how students get to demonstrate their achievement: the unchanging high standards that underpin all CXC credentials remain firmly in place. In sum, CTEC represents a model that preserves the rigor and credibility of Caribbean secondary education qualifications while building new pathways to support greater learner success and higher educational attainment across the region.