Saint Vincent et les Grenadines
21/12/2022
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Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
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Ralph Gonsalves
Prime Minister
Curtis King
Minister of Education
# Population
110,947
# Students
26.391
# Teachers
1.624
# Schools
224
Mean of schooling
Evolution of access to basic resources
Evolution of enrollment
Expense
GDP and growth
Government expenditure on education
Political context
St. Vincent and the Grenadines is a constitutional monarchy. It gained independence from Great Britain on 27 October 1979. Currently, Queen Elizabeth II is head of state, represented by the Governor General. Constitutionally, elections must be held every five years or may be called earlier by the Prime Minister, who is head of government.
The nation’s political system operates on the principles of parliamentary democracy.
Economic and social context
The country has an estimated population of 111,000. About 90 per cent of the population occupies the mainland of St. Vincent, while the remaining 10 per cent occupies the territory of the Grenadines.
In terms of context, statistics are scarce: the last poverty assessment report was conducted by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) in 2008 and revealed a poverty rate of 30.2 per cent while the GINI index was 0.402. The assessment also showed that female-headed households are disproportionately affected by poverty compared to male-headed households.
A labour force survey indicated an unemployment rate of 25.8 per cent, affecting mainly youth and women (St. Vincent and the Grenadines Bureau of Statistics, 2020).
Educational context
The formal education system consists of four levels: preschool, primary school, secondary school and tertiary level. The system is governed by the 2006 Education Act.
Data from the most recent Compendio Estadístico Educativo (2018-19) indicate that there are 128 preschools in the country, 117 of which are privately run. At the primary level, there are 57 public and 8 church-owned establishments. There are also 3 special education schools.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College (SVGG) is the main state institution offering tertiary level education. However, students also access higher education through enrolment at the University of the West Indies, Open Campus, and privately owned tertiary institutions.
Source:
Knight, V., Marshall, J., Depradine, K., & Moody-Marshall, R. (2021b). Saint Vincent and the Grenadines´ country review. Santiago de Chile: SUMMA
Photo credit: GPE KIX
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