UNESCO National Commission collaborates with the Office of the Governor General to launch Essay Competition

Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis, April 14, 2025 (UNESCO National Commission) – In the spirit of the bold agenda set forward by the Honourable Prime Minister, Dr. Terrance Drew that put St. Kitts and Nevis on a pathway to becoming a fully independent sustainable island state by 2040, the Ministry of Education is presently pursuing a long-held national aspiration to develop a curriculum for the teaching of “St. Kitts and Nevis Studies” that will be mandatory for all secondary school students in order to graduate. This competency-based course aims to “increase student’s awareness of, appreciation for and generate a deeper and wider knowledge of Kittitian and Nevisian History, Heritage and Culture,” said the Honourable Dr. Geoffrey Hanley, Minister of Education et al. “The curriculum development process will also seek to identify more effective and impactful ways to teach history that captivate and motivate students by incorporating pedagogical approaches that informs as much as it inspires. It will also place our national history in proper geopolitical context and apply lessons from the past that can inform the solutions of today and tomorrow. To deliver on the promise of our Sustainable Island State Agenda (SISA), our education system must be mobilized to create, teach and disseminate knowledge and raise the level of awareness among our citizens.”

This noble venture has been taken on board by the Routes of Enslaved Peoples Committee of the UNESCO National Commission which is the country’s leading authority bringing together stakeholders across the Federation involved in cultural and heritage preservation and the production and dissemination of interdisciplinary knowledge and artistic creations that raise awareness about our shared history of enslavement, the transatlantic slave trade, its consequences and the resistance it inspired. “The UNESCO National Commission in the Ministry of Education is most pleased for the opportunity to be involved, especially in the context of the United Nation’s recent declaration of the Second Decade for People of African Descent, made by the General Assembly in December 2024. UNESCO was also integrally involved in the 2016 Education Policy Review which informed the new Education Sector Plan that has implemented a revised national curriculum and learning assessment system that allows students to develop a holistic set of competencies for the 21st Century, a key component of which is the inclusion of St. Kitts and Nevis Studies. The UNESCO National Routes of Enslaved Peoples Committee has therefore dedicated all its activities over the next eighteen months towards starting a national conversation on the importance of teaching our ancestral African History as a necessary step in decolonizing our national consciousness and the way we teach history. We have started with the launch of an Essay Competition for all secondary school students, public and private, between forms three and five for the month of April,” stated Her Excellency Nerys Dockery, Secretary General of the UNESCO National Commission.

Her Excellency Dame Marcella Liburd placed the initiative in national context: “The theme of the Essay Competition, which is “The Importance and Value of our Student’s being Taught our African Ancestral History” is being held under my distinguished patronage. We want to hear from our students why this is critical to the shaping of an enlightened national consciousness and identity. As our nation matures after almost forty-two years of independence, and in advance of efforts to realize the vision of a sustainable island state based on

notions of self-reliance, self sustainability and self-confidence, we must first understand who we are as a people, what constitutes a distinctly St. Kitts-Nevis world view and value system and to locate this in broader geopolitical context as we seek to raise our national profile among the community of nations. As the Head of State, it is important to engage and support national memorial initiatives as relates to the development of the Arts, culture and heritage. The Office of the Governor General is delighted to participate in this worthwhile endeavour. We encourage parents to enrol your children for the competition.”

The Essay Competition runs from April 1st to 30th, 2025 and will culminate with an Awards Ceremony to be held on August 23, 2025 – the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition following Emancipation Day celebrations. It is one of a series of groundbreaking events being organized by the UNESCO Routes of Enslaved Peoples Committee under the distinguished patronage of the Governor General that will generate and deepen national debate that looks back at our history in order to chart our course forward as a nation.

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