Smart Classroom at Plainview Combined
3 May 2021
The Taiwan Technical Mission in St. Lucia in partnership with the Ministry of Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development, under the Application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Education Development Project, successfully facilitated the opening of a Smart Classroom at the Plainview Combined School in Vieux- Fort.
This ceremony was well attended by Ambassador of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to St. Lucia Peter Chen, Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Education, Ms. Michelle Charles, District Six’s Chief Education Officer, Mr. Stephen Auguste, the Principal of Plainview combined School, Ms. Ella John, Mr. Mario Cheng, Chief of the Taiwan Technical Mission in Saint Lucia, the School’s Manager, Pastor Winsbert Samuel and the ICT Specialist, Joanna Huang and the Communication Unit.
The ceremony began with an invocation by the Chief Education Officer, Stephen Auguste, followed by a chorus sung by students and teachers of the Plainview combined School entitled “Thanks”. This rendition was followed by a warm welcome from the Principal of the Plainview combined, Ms. Ella John. In her remarks, Ms. John acknowledged the attendees, specifically the Taiwan Embassy, expressing her immense gratitude for gifting their school with the timely and much needed SMART Classroom.
Ms. John maintained that the sudden shift from face-to-face learning to virtual learning, was a blessing in disguise, though a global demise, it helped propel St. Lucia’s educational structure into the previously unknown technological world.
The Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Education, Ms. Michelle Charles, in her remarks said that she is looking forward to there being many more handing over ceremonies of this nature. She conceded that initiatives such as the SMART classroom and implementing improved access to smart devices, does not only benefit individual teachers and students, but in actuality positively impacts an entire community and subsequently our society.
Ms. Charles also maintained that the Department of Education, Innovation and Gender Relations recognizes the value of digital literacy and their aim is to provide students with real world skills that they can use to become self sufficient in the global environment. Ms. John also thanks the government and people of Taiwan for being the lead partner in the integration of the ICT education initiative, also expressing to the ambassador, “you have not only given us a fish but you have taught us how to fish”. The permanent secretary implored the teachers and students of Plainview Combined to make maximum use of the equipment and devices that were gifted here today.
The Ambassador of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to St. Lucia extended his gratitude for the warm welcome and appreciation extended to himself and the people of Taiwan by the students and teachers of Plainview Combined and the department of Education. He expressed how honoured he felt to be able to witness the milestones achieved by the ICT education initiatives and the project’s remarkable successes. He believes that the induction of the SMART classrooms empowers students and teachers to enable the incorporation of ICT education into their teaching and learning process.