St Helena Getting More Attention
One Team of Education Experts left St Helena Last Week – Another Two Teams Arrive This Weekend
A team from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) spent a week in St Helena to “assess the current suitability of primary school education buildings on the island”. This means gathering information to help decide whether St Helena now needs only one primary school or maybe two. The falling number of schoolchildren in primary schools has for a long time raised the question, does St Helena need all three existing primary schools.
The option of keeping the three existing primary schools is officially still on the table but the number of schoolchildren in primary school classes strongly indicates that change is on the way.
One week after the FCDO team flew back to the UK, two more education experts arrive from Hampshire County Council. They will be here for two weeks from 9th November to advise on the educational provision for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). This aspect of education provision has also been raised as requiring special attention. The number of primary schools and the SEND review are both part of the ongoing Education Review which has been in place for well over a year. These recent visits suggest the Review has upped the pace a bit.
More FCDO Officials Arriving on 9th November
A second team of FCDO officials will come to St Helena this week as part of the package of measures agreed when St Helena Government said migrants taking refuge on the Indian Ocean Chagos Islands will be accepted here.
The FCDO team will be working with St Helena Immigration and Customs to identify any additional training needs that may be required and check out areas where operating procedures could be developed.
On 1st November, St Helena Immigration stopped requiring arriving airport passengers to complete landing cards. Now the red and green channels are in use to make a smoother passage through HM Customs.
