Despite the awareness which is out there about this issue, clear policies about sexual harassment in the workplace, still the problem remains prevalent. And to the extent that, you know, especially if you look at the United States of America, sexual harassment at workplace has been illegal for 53 years now. Yet it happens every day. And this is where the question comes up. Where is the problem? Is it with the legislation or is it with something else? Actually, it's not about making laws and, you know, passing very strong legislations on this issue. The fundamental problem is the mindset of the people. If right values are not ingrained in minds of the boys and the girls from very early stages of their lives, about the nature of male-female relationship, then you can have the strongest of legislations that is not going to work. It is the issue of terbiyyat. It is the issue of, you know, giving the right values and morality to the society. See, the problem with the West at the moment is that when you look at secular morality, you know, especially based on the views of Sigmund Freud and even philosophers like Bert nerd Russell, you see, they have looked at this whole issue of sexuality and the human desire. And they say that, you know, the problem is that this desire has to be fulfilled. And we have to remove all the restrictions in male-female relationship. As long as there is, you know, mutual consent, doesn't matter. And only when these desires are fulfilled, people actually then will get away from all these problems. They were actually reacting to what they had in the Western part of the world. Unnatural and unlogical restrictions put on them from their own church. A church which was promoting celibacy is a higher value than marriage. A church which was saying that marriage is, you know, lesser of the two evils. And so marriage was tolerated. And with that, there was negativity to this whole process of fulfilling the natural desires. And when the church lost its power in the society, you know, the secular-minded thinkers came in and they said they went to the other extreme. That we would like to remove all restrictions. Remove restrictions and things will be okay. Because people's desires would be fulfilled. As long as there is mutual consent, it doesn't matter whether you are single or married. You know, it doesn't matter at all. But we have seen people like, you know, Freud and Russell have died more than 50 years ago. And the Western society still is suffering with those problems. You know, you look at the modern lifestyle and the promiscuity that it has. This free attitude towards morality as far as sexuality is concerned has not resolved the problem. You know, look at Canada or US or many other, you know, Western countries. They have the best of universities around the world. Most advanced science and technology, you know, as far as method and invention is concerned. And a very high standard of living. In spite of all this, when it comes to the issue of sexual harassment, it is there. So it is not ignorance. It is not poverty. It is not lack of science and technology or money. It has everything to do with morality. And the morality which should be best on the divine teachings. What does Islam have to say about it?  Islam does not say that, you know, these desires that we have are evil. Rather we believe that these desires have been created by Allah SWT himself. And He has allowed us to fulfill them. But within the sacred bounds of marriage between a man and a woman, I should make it clear here. Any other way of fulfilling that desire is considered to be a major sin. So yes, Islam took away that negativity from that relationship but within the parameter of the marriage, you know, bounds. It is actually considered to be the ayat of Allah SWT. It is a sign of Allah's power and glory. However we have to remember, the desires are there. The right way of fulfilling the desire is there. But there is someone else, whether you like him or not, he is always there with you. And there is shaitan. Shaitan is always there to ignite the spirit of rebellion against divine commandments. And therefore Islam says you have to constantly train yourself when it comes to the issue of terbiyeh. And to be aware of this temptation of the shaitan. Allah SWT in Sura-e-Shams that we recite in Namaz-e-eid. He is very clear about it where he says, By the soul of the human being that he created, He inspired to the soul of every human being the basic understanding of what is evil and what is good. And then he says, You know, successful as a person who keeps that nafs and soul purified with the teachings of revelation and the prophets who come. And failure is the person who lets that nafs become corrupted with sins.  Money is there, knowledge is there, everything is there. You know, there is total loss in this dunya and akhirah. And remember this issue of temptation of the shaitan, nobody is immune from it. Neither a teacher nor a coach. Neither a priest or a muallim of Quran. Neither a president sitting in the office or a bishop in the sanctuary of his own cathedral in Boston. You know, neither you're talking about the medical professionals or policemen. Every field of this dunya, every area of human society, shaitan has his own, you know, traps for every kind of people. And this is where we see that Allah SWT talks about this issue. How to prevent this? And Islam has taken this very seriously. If you look at the words of Allah SWT in the Quran about it, you will see that he actually talks about this issue in a more serious manner than many other examples. You will see there are many, many commandments in the Quran where Allah says, don't do this, don't do this, don't do that. He just simply says, don't kill. You know, don't do that. Don't do a shirk. But when it comes to the issue of this temptation of the shaitan, Allah SWT used a different language there. Different style. You know, in Surah Isra'a, Surah Bani Israel, Surah number 17, verse 32, he says, He doesn't say, don't do zina. Don't have illicit relationships. Rather, he says, Everything else, he says, don't do it. Here, he says, Do not even go close to it. In Surah Araf, Surah number 651, Allah SWT before and after this ayat actually has what we call 10 commandments of Islam. You know, you talk about the 10 commandments of Moses, even in Surah Araf, ayat number 50 and some ayats 150 before and after it, you have the 10 commandments there. Well, Allah SWT says, You know, do not do shirk.  Then he talks about this issue. Don't even go close to the indecencies. Whether this indecent act or relationship is obvious and open or it is being done secretly. In both forms, Allah SWT says, Do not even go close to it. What does it mean? When he says, do not even go close to it. Do not even go near it. Do not approach it. It means anything which in the first look it seems to be very innocent. There is no hermit there. But if you know that if this continues, you will be led to the second step. And then third and then fourth, eventually you will reach to what is known as Fahishan indecency. Allah SWT says, be careful before it. Take precautions before saying that you do not even reach to that point.


that said you were a bit muffled. Can everybody hear me? Yes, I can hear you. Can you hear me? Yes, I can hear you. Okay, good. I can hear you, but your voice is muffled. Yes. Can you say something again?  Mr. Ogeez. Okay, let me try from this one. That's a lot better. Thank you. Good afternoon once more. Is that better? Are you hearing me? Yes, much clearer. And my apologies, Mr. Lionel. Is that Mr. Lionel or? Stephen Ogeez. Yes, I know it's Mr. Stephen Ogeez, but I said it was a she, but I'm not sure now. Okay, all right. That's much clearer. Thank you very much. Okay, so we're operating from our computer. All right, so let us call our town hall meeting to order. That's okay with everybody. Yes, 6-6-0-1 now, comments. Teachers, principals, parents, and community members, distinguished participants, welcome to this town hall meeting to discuss the amendment to the Education Act and to share your views before and to share your views on the Education Act or the amendment proposed to this Education Act. So before we proceed, I would invite Mrs. Ambrose to lead us in prayer. Is this Ambrose? Good evening, everyone. It's our personal prayer. Every father needs to praise and glory and honor for everything he did before. So tonight, I pray God that your whole spirit will be in our midst, even as we discuss and Lord, be core to the amendments of our Education Act. All that we do, be for the benefit of our students, I pray God that whenever we discuss this evening that it would be a great honor, and I pray God for all the presenters, Lord, that the fresh and mighty will rise upon them, and please love them tonight. I just give you all the person you need. This is my prayer. Amen. Thank you very much. Mrs. Ambrose. Okay, my name is Stephen Ogis. I'm the Education Officer for District 6, and my task is to be the chairperson of this consultation where we deal with the or we address the callers who are associated with District 6. So welcome to this consultation to discuss revisions made of revisions proposed to the Education Act as a new chair. I'm delighted to welcome you to this important session where we'll be collectively reviewing and discussing the Education Act. Education is the cornerstone of societal progress shaping the minds of future generations and providing the foundation for thriving and enlightened society. The Education Act plays a pivotal role in defining the framework within which our education system operates. As we embark on this review, it is essential to recognize the significance of our collective efforts in shaping the future of education. The outcomes of our discussions and deliberations will undoubtedly have far-reaching implications for students, teachers, parents, and the broader community. Our goal is to ensure that the Education Act is not only reflective of the current needs and challenges, but is also forward-looking and adaptable to the evolving landscape of education. I encourage each of you to actively participate, share your insights, and engage in constructive dialogue. Your expertise and perspectives are invaluable in shaping the future of education in St. Lucia. Thank you for your commitment to this important endeavor. I look forward to a fruitful and collaborative review process. I now hand you over to our lead consultant, Mrs. Paula Coupe McKinnon. Over to you, Mrs. Paula Coupe McKinnon. Thank you very much, Mr. O'Geest. Good evening, everyone. It's wonderful to have you with us in this sixth town hall session that we have held. We've been holding town hall sessions. We held them last week from Monday to Thursday, and we have had one last evening, and we'll continue holding them until Thursday of this week, and we also have dedicated sessions planned with principals and teachers on Friday. The town hall sessions have been incredibly helpful to the work that we're doing to make recommendations regarding the proposed Education Act and regulations, and we encourage you to participate actively this evening. We are here for you to hear your views and to ensure that the Education Act that is drafted reflects the priorities of St. Lucia. With me this evening is Mrs. Fortuna Anthony. Mrs. Anthony is, I'm sure, no stranger to many of you. Mrs. Anthony served as Chief Education Officer in St. Lucia, and she has been incredibly helpful to us in our work as a member of our team in the development of the draft that we are speaking about this evening. Mrs. Anthony, would you like to say hello? Thank you very much, Paula. Good evening to everyone, and just as Mrs. McKenon has said, it is our pleasure to be of service to you as we review the draft Education Act that we have been working on from 2022. So it's almost two years, and we are there to serve you, and we have been hearing the voices. We are not completed, but we will pay you this evening, and as she said, please ask your questions, make your comments, and we will serve you to the best of our ability. Thank you very much, Mrs. McKenon. Thank you. And another of our colleagues, Dr. Monica Williams, will be joining us in about a half an hour, 40 minutes from now, but we will proceed to keep things on schedule. So our schedule for tonight starts at six, and thank you for starting us promptly at six. And then we're going to look at just the schedule that you see before you, and the purpose of the town hall meetings. We'll provide you with a brief description of the review process that we have undertaken, and then provide an overview and discussion of the core features of the draft Education Act and regulations to give you a sense of some of the priority changes that are being recommended from the Act that is currently in which was developed for the most part in 2005. And then we this, as I mentioned, this session is for you. So we want to explore with you your priorities and hopes for the Education Act and regulations. And our plan is to turn it back over to Mr. Ogiste at 725 to conclude and we'll adjourn at 730. So we're very respectful of your time and very grateful to you for taking time from your evening to be here with us tonight. So purpose of these town hall meetings is to describe the review and enhancement of the Education Act. So to give you a sense of the process that we have used, and then discuss the core features of the draft Act and regulations to listen to your priorities and hopes for the draft Act and regulations, to record your questions and comments, and to address the topics and issues raised in this meeting in the process of our work toward finalization of a draft Act and regulations that would proceed through the parliamentary process. In terms of some guides for us for our interaction this evening, we cannot stress enough that your questions and comments are welcome. That's why we're here. We are chairing the meeting, the proceedings, if you will, of the meeting, the agenda. And we, as I mentioned, we started on time and we hope to end on time as well. You can place your comments in the chat if you would like to do that, or we would welcome your comments in your voice. And if you would like to do that, just please raise your hand. You will see an icon on your screen for those of you who have not used raised hand before. It is, it can be more, it can be reaction, it depends on the type of computer that you're using. But if you hit it, you will see an option to raise hand. And please just put your hand up and we will acknowledge you. We're asking that when you share your question or comment that you take about three minutes or so to do that so that we can ensure that everyone gets a chance to speak during the meeting. In these meetings, some of these meetings we've had well over 100 people and we want to make sure that we have the opportunity to hear as many voices as possible. We appreciate and respect all questions and comments and ask you to do the same of the fellow participants in the town hall this evening. If there's anything that we've learned over our time working on the Education Act is that St. Lucian's are passionate about education and persons do not always agree with what might be appropriate to be in the act. And that's fine. That's what we want to ensure that we hear all opinions and try and recommend what we believe is the is in the best interest of learners in St. Lucia. So our grounding is always in the learner and what we think would serve them best. So in terms of our work on the review, we started in February of 2022 when the Department of Education contracted with a Mind Bloom Consulting and St. Francis Xavier University from from Anticonition Nova Scotia, Canada to partner with St. Lucia educators in the review and enhancement of the Education Act. And this partnership is very important. We are here to facilitate to bring research and formed thoughts to the process to be as consultative as possible and to work with you and the leaders in education to come up with something for the Education Act that is both visionary and responsive to the needs of a modern education system. The review was undertaken because the existing Education Act is from 2005 and the Department of Education wants to ensure that the act meets the needs of this modern education system now and into the future. So we already know from our interaction with many that there are some things that people would desire to have in the Education Act and you will see some of that this evening. So we know that they know we know that it doesn't meet your needs now and so we are looking at how it can better meet your needs into the future. From February 2022 up to the present time we've conducted extensive stakeholder consultations. We met with groups of stakeholders, students, teachers, principals, the St. Lucia Teachers Union and consulted with the Attorney General's Office, the Teaching Service Commission. We've had considerable input throughout to help us better understand the challenges and the hopes for education. Based on the findings of those initial consultations and research, a draft Education Act and regulations were prepared just about a year later and that Education Act was circulated and feedback sought and from that and we did some sessions as well in terms of presenting and receiving feedback verbally. We received more than 700 suggestions. Once people had an opportunity to look at the draft and consider the draft, we received more than 700 suggestions that were received, reviewed and acted upon to create the draft that you are now looking at.  We put them in the form of a draft Act and regulations and then when people saw that they then had the opportunity to think about it and provide even more advice to us about what would be appropriate and the draft that you see before you now is a major change from the draft that was presented in March of 2023. And so now that we have another draft, we want a person's feedback and so it was decided that it would be very helpful to have these town hall meetings that are open to everyone and during the town hall meetings that we would provide a description of the review process that we've done and the progress achieved to provide you with access to the revised draft Education Act and regulations so that you could examine it and to present to you some of the key themes and changes that have occurred and how the proposed Act and regulations are organized and provide an opportunity for you to contribute to the onward validation and finalization of the draft Education Act and regulations. So we are continuing to receive feedback, revise, move forward so there so that we are getting the best possible draft Act and regulations for consideration by cabinet and parliament. So what has changed? So the first thing that persons would note in looking at the proposed Act is it is very student-centered so it's in what we call the long title, it actually possesses a bit of a vision statement for education in St. Lucia and it is focused on the learner and that continues throughout the proposed Act in that everything that we tried to present or amend is we tried to look at it from the student perspective because education obviously is about the students and it is about all students. So also in the vision we focus on every student having the opportunity to meet his or her potential. There are expanded definitions and updated language. Education has changed substantially in nearly 20 years and so now we need definitions and language that reflect more inclusive practice, that talk about various different special needs that students, learners might have to talk about different forms of education in 2005 when education was thought about it was most often considered in terms of buildings and that COVID changed that dramatically. So now we think of education in terms of perhaps blended offerings in terms of distance education obviously still in terms of face-to-face in the classroom so but we want to make sure that education, the breadth of education is considered. It focuses on holistic education that supports student learning and well-being so much more focus on students' well-being that their holistic development versus just their ability to receive and repeat facts but more so for them to have a deep understanding to be able to apply learning and to actually develop socially, emotionally and really have a well-rounded education and not just focused on key concepts. The act also speaks to universal access to education that all students should be able to access education to free tuition, that students in primary and secondary should be able to access education without a burden of paying tuition and the protection from discrimination so that students should not be discriminated against in accessing education that students regardless of their language, their culture, their gender, they should have equal opportunity for education. The proposed act speaks to the establishment of a Council on Special Needs Education and Inclusive Education and this is to emphasize the importance of inclusive education for all and so to help guide that it was the wish of stakeholders that a council be created to advise on ensuring that the education system is as inclusive as possible and that there are processes and policies in place to ensure that those with special needs are supported and special needs includes students who may have learning challenges, students who may have some kind of physical challenge that makes it necessary for some adaptations and it also applies to gifted students who also need a special consideration and this when you think about education every learner is unique and when we have those learners in our system of education we want to ensure that we are as responsive to every one of them as possible. We have for the first time introduced regulations it was intended that when the Education Act in 2005 was developed that regulations would also be developed to support it and so the act is the foundation for education, it's the framework for education and then the regulations assist with the ensuring that people know how to apply the act and so in the regulations we have also proposed a new national code of conduct. We know that schools have had codes of conducts and they will continue to have specific school rules but based on feedback that we received from teachers and others it seemed that it would be helpful if there was a code of conduct that was standard throughout the country that presented standards for behavior and appropriate dress and the proposed national code of conduct which is contained in those regulations actually comes at behavior from a positive perspective. What does a positive school environment look like? How can we ensure that we as a community of learners and teachers and school leaders can create a positive environment and then if our positive environment isn't maintained how do we respond to misbehavior and the proposed code of conduct actually suggests responses to misbehavior, appropriate responses to misbehavior and actually inappropriate responses to misbehavior so that it can serve as a guide for educators in managing positive behavior within schools. It is also recommended in the code of conduct that everyone have a copy of it and that it be discussed with students early in the year so that everyone understands the expectation for positive behavior in the school community. In addition the Education Act, the Proposed Act expands the compulsory school age from five to 15 to three years of age to 17 years of age so that brings in early childhood education and provides the opportunity for pre-kindergarten that's being introduced now and even earlier early childhood as part of the education system. There are clear there's clear authority for educators to discipline students and to protect safety and security so educators are put in a very difficult situation in schools to and to try and ensure the safety and security for all learners so the proposed Act and regulations provide support to educators through guidance about what is acceptable for them to do to ensure that that that though the learners are protected and recognizing that they are a community and sometimes it is necessary to act quickly to ensure the safety and security of for all and new types of education as I mentioned previously were added so the so we have suggested new titles are new types of education include alternative education which really relates to creating different pathways for students to learn and focuses again on inclusive education so that students can develop pathways that are best suited to their interest and abilities through the education system. It introduces online and blended education as I mentioned earlier because those types of education are used in the system they can be advantageous and good additions to face to face and sometimes as we experience with COVID-19 they might be necessary and then there are clearly defined rights duties powers and responsibilities for for senior ministry officials for school leaders that would be principals vice principals for teachers for parents for students so that everyone in these school communities or everyone within the the system and the schools have a clear understanding of what their rights and powers and responsibilities are and that everyone has certain powers and responsibilities and duties as part of the system. Are there any questions or comments Mrs. Anthony are you seeing anything in the chat today? No there is nothing in the chat today except that I think it's Miss Emanuel has posted the link yes Miss Emanuel has posted the link for the regulations and the bill that's all in this welcome thank you so the the education act is the proposed act is divided into sections and as I mentioned the first section called the preliminary has what we call the long title or that's what the rafters call it we like to call it the vision statement and and we would like it to be more vision more of a statement than drafters prefer to see so there are accepted drafting legislative drafting guidelines that those drafting legislation use however the the long title is as as you will see quite uh student focused there's interpretation which is really the definitions as I and as I mentioned that has been significantly expanded to provide definitions for things that are reflected in a modern education act and then the preliminary section also holds purpose of the act um and that has been expanded to include key principles such as high quality holistic education universal access to education and lifelong learning and it really the purpose expands on the long title part one talks about the administration of the education system so the duties and powers of the minister um the chief education officer and education officers and education advisory boards and this has been expanded and actually based on input that we received education officers were added into this part of the act to make it very clear the role of education officers in the system of education and then part two are the stages of education and types of education so the stages are early childhood primary secondary that sort of thing and the types of education would be things like adult education alternative education blended continuing distance inclusive education special needs and online and technical and vocational and as I mentioned earlier some of these types of education are are included have had been included included based on our experience with COVID-19 the the section of the act talks about registration and we we are proposing a significant expansion to the homeschooling section of part two which describes the that homeschooling will use the national curriculum it also talks about how homeschooling is monitored and supported and so based on feedback that was expanded significantly and then there is a section on on special special needs education and inclusive education and again something very new in that regard and that was shaped very much by educators who provided us with with excellent feedback on their vision for special needs education inclusive education in st. Lucia part three talks about the rights and responsibilities of students and and parents and the rights of students reflect international best practice and set the stage for the delivery of inclusive holistic education so students are responsible to attend school to do their best those sorts of things and and parents also have obligations to ensure that their daughters and sons are participating meaningfully in education so this is outlined in part three obviously universal access to education is a right free tuition is a right and and as I mentioned students are accountable as well part four is admission attendance and records so the school and it introduces the option of students to students while it's not mandatory if it's advantageous for them to stay beyond age 17 it expands outlines the importance of the school attendance officer and the role that he or she undertakes part five describes the national curriculum instruction and assessment of students and includes important statements about the promotion of diverse peoples the unique culture history and language the the culture language and history of st. Lucia is included in the curriculum is an important part of the curriculum and the curriculum is of and for st. Lucia's it also speaks to balanced student assessment and what this means is that it opens the door for a greater focus on continuous assessment through such such activities as formative assessment and a balance between diagnostic formative and summative assessment so that students have the opportunity to express their their knowledge skills and values that have been learned through education in a multitude of ways and that the emphasis on summative year-end tests or examinations is balanced with other with other forms of assessment that occur throughout the year this section also includes comments about collective worship and religious education that might be part of of schools within st. Lucia part six speaks to the management of schools so boards of management, technical and vocational education and and training council which actually the t-vet council was there previously it talks about student councils entrenching student councils and parent teacher community associations and as we were working on the recommendations for the education act there were there were there was another group actually working on best practice in terms of parent teacher associations and it was their recommendation that we recognize and I mean we collectively recognize that the community is very plays a very important role in education and in supporting learning and that it was their recommendation that was embraced by those within the ministry of education that the associations now be called parent teacher community associations to reflect that involvement and to encourage the involvement greater involvement of the community in supporting education and working with with parents and teachers to enrich education part seven mentions the national code of conduct school rules and discipline so I've I talked quite a bit about the national code of conduct earlier and its goal of creating of supporting the creation of positive a park create the creation of a positive school environment and I mentioned that there are responses included in the proposed code of conduct to student misbehavior and that includes positive educational types of responses things like counseling like meetings to discuss it and and also things like in school suspensions that are ensure that students are staying in school but are but that there is a response to their misbehavior so we we looked for responses to misbehavior that would actually focus a lot on learning and have students understand why their actions are considered to be misbehavior and not in compliance with the national code of conduct and then if necessary and of course there will be circumstances where it is necessary to have things like suspensions both in school and perhaps out of school suspensions there is a in this section in part seven there is a proposed section on search and seizure which provides members of the school community teachers principals vice principals with the with the right to search and seize materials that might be harmful to the school environment so there's guidance there to enable those who are an authority in schools to do that if in fact they believe that school safety is compromised and of course there's a right to a disciplinary response so if a school or a school leader makes a decision and the student and or their parents are believe that it was an inappropriate response the rights for an appeal are described in this section the rights and duties of educators are described in part eight and there is a grouping of educators that includes principals vice principals teachers and guidance counselors and there's a general section that talks about the rights of of educators and then specific right duties of principals vice principals teachers and school and school guidance counselors and also rights so if there's a general category with rights and duties that apply to all and then it becomes more specific with principals vice principals teachers and school counselors section nine talks about us the st lucha island scholarship the value of the scholarship the right of cabinet to determine how many scholarships qualification and examination for scholarship on what ground scholarships would be forfeited the bonding of scholarship recipients and the awarding of grants and bursaries that that the actual section was contained in is contained in the existing act and it was modified slightly based on input that we received part 10 actually deals with appeals so again if if any kind of a ruling occurs within the system of education there is a an appeals process and part 10 talks about the process the timelines and how appeals would be considered part 11 is what what is called miscellaneous and it really includes things that don't have a natural place in the other parts of the education act so the the requirement for a for a annual report to be presented each year on the status of education the it contains a section on contagious diseases on closure of schools loitering on school premises insurance vendors on school properties premises prohibition of sale of alcohol and and those sorts of things so those are contained in the miscellaneous section of the proposed act so that's just a obviously the act is is detailed and there are detailed descriptions within each section and detailed wording but we just wanted to present this evening a an overview for you of what is contained in the proposed education act and how that differs from what what is currently in the or what is in what is contained in the current act Paula may I say we have two questions wonderful the first one is is there anything so in anything incorporated um for the involvement in the various uniform groups in schools is there anything um just yeah there we go somebody's music is very loud i have a question um was um on whether there is anything in the act um to incorporate involvement in the various uniform groups in the schools for example guides and cadets cubs and this sort of thing um i am sure we would be able to look at the regulations um yes i think i think you know in terms i don't think obviously within the act or the the regulations we couldn't speak in a detailed way about all the possibilities of all the extracurricular possibilities that could exist however we do there is statements about the development of the entire sort of the whole student this holistic approach which by inference would include involvement with with things that would support character development or support their interests i i noticed that dr. Williams has joined us um dr. Williams is there anything that you would add to that thank you paula and good evening everyone um i would just add uh to that that in the purpose of the education act which is located toward the front of the act there are statements that address as paula pointed out the purpose is to provide a high quality education for all students that supports their learning development and well-being and enables them to reach their full potential as learners and citizens and certainly extracurriculars contribute to that um also uh there is a purpose that it provides um quality curriculum assessment teaching uh learning and leadership and oftentimes in extracurricular groups like scouts or guides which were mentioned those organizations are developing the leadership potential of children and youth and the act supports that type of development through the purpose as well as the vision for student success that's at the beginning and if i may add um this is mcclellan that um we also incorporated the statement that um principals do have the ability the option in their curriculum to add in anything which will further develop the students so so that um it it takes into consideration as um dr. Williams said you we have the holistic development of the child we have a second question does the new legislation have in place an established procedure to deal with misconduct to ensure that there is uniformity in dealing with misconduct that is music to my ears um yes that that is really the thrust of the proposed new code of conduct is to introduce guidelines that bring about uniformity um and to create um uh to have the the proposed code of conduct shared among all across the country so there's an understanding of the types of responses that would be appropriate um if misbehavior occurs so that is exactly the purpose of the the national code of conduct and also the thrust that um that each school would really just talk about expectations for positive behavior and how everybody contributes to that and everyone wants to create a positive environment in their school there they're sort of home away from home if you will in the education system so um it it does come with the thrust the thrust that that supports um principals vice principals and teachers in creating that positive environment and supports them in doing that um and having everyone in the in that environment understand that they all have a role to play um and then if persons do not behave in the manner that's uh accepted in the school what those what the implications are so yes uniformity consistency that was the desire um to give teachers and vice principals and principals the tools um that are consistent throughout the country uh to and create those positive school environments and and and respond to misbehavior thank you for that question another question for you as when um as it pertains to vendors is there a difference between schools premises and school property as pertains to vendors is there a difference between school premises and school property um doctor uh williams may correct me if i'm wrong but my i believe the way that it is worded is that uh it's it's vendors uh and they're and the um those regulation the the guidelines for vendors is it relates to school property so it it isn't just restricted to the building but actually the property uh doctor williams um i correct there uh thank you mrs mckinnon i'm just looking at the section there section 199 vendor on school premises um so it it speaks to uh the the restrictions uh on vendors on school premises and um that's the terminology that is used throughout from what i'm seeing um and i would just say with regard to premises and property um there's no uh differentiation there however premises is a word that's used in other parts of the act for example in section 201 they also talk about the prohibitions against loitering on school premises so premises seems to be the word that's used most often thank you and and so premises in terms of our interpretation are more than the building they are actually school property so i think that premises is is broadly interpreted in terms of the act that's correct it would include the playgrounds associated facilities of the school um all of those different components of a school competent really would be incorporated under the the premises so it's it's broadly interpreted in that way thank you for that question there's another question this is wonderful bridge of procedure should be ground for appeal so if there is no set procedure how are the authorities going to be held accountable for not following proper procedure so um the the act um in terms of the uh responsibilities of various persons in the education system um they are they have responsibilities for uh certain procedures um if those procedures are breached there's a process by which someone can can raise that and and uh have it have a response to that so the the act actually has uh you know the ability for persons within the education community to raise improper procedure and that would be in terms of for example the appeal process that would be certainly grounds for appeal if if a improper process were undertaken um and and uh and then the obviously the um that would if the appeal were successful that would change the outcome of whatever the decision was so it's it the act is very clear about that process and how it is um undertaken um in terms of um uh response to whoever believes that something has been inappropriately done within the system another question in the beginning of this meeting you mentioned that we might not always agree to what might be appropriate to be in the act for best interests of the learner so there's a question yes i heard that yes that's a statement it is more a statement right so yeah i mean we we i think i think the way that i put it is that we might not always agree and on on what is best suited for the act but what we always try to do is ensure that what ends up in the act is in the best interest of the learner so um we have endeavored in the work that we have done to make recommendations that reflect um the the vision that's that every learner has a right to education has a right to holistic education and always come back to that learner centered focus in the recommendations that we make for what should be included in the act we have that followed by this question is it in the best interest of the learners to have their teachers with or little to no protective rights this is a strange question is it in the best interest of the learners to have their teachers with less or little to no protective rights well we would not believe that teachers have less protective rights the rights of teachers are outlined in the education act and and and we believe that that as a matter of fact several of the the pieces of the education act that we've introduced are actually to support and protect um teachers and school leaders in their work so if if there is something that that some the person believes uh is not protecting teachers in their work um we would love to know about it because um we endeavored to do everything that we could to support teachers vice principles principles to create positive school environments um that uh protect all followed by this one do you think that these removals will lead to an to an excitement of teachers or the exodus from the system well there's there's a suggestion here that there's a removal of rights and um I don't believe that teachers rights have been removed from the act there may be a case where the act and and the teaching service commission act over overlapped and in that case of course the teaching service act um takes um prominence because that is where teachers um actually that's the process through which teachers are appointed so oh in in some cases what what half what has to be considered in looking at rights um are the rights that the system the legislative system uh uh provides to people through the constitution through the teaching service commission um and through the education act so there as I as I said previously there is no intention here to take away any protections from teachers quite the contrary the um the there were we believe there are things in the act that actually strengthen the protection of those um in school communities to do their work on the issue and and I'm sorry and I would add to that that that this is a draft and if there is something that that um a person is concerned about in terms of a right being taken away we would be happy to respond to that and either show where the right exists or if in in any case we have in fact inadvertently created a situation that has um has a teacher or principal or school leader or education officer believe that they're um that they are more vulnerable we would want to know specifically what that would be so that we could address it. Next question on the issue of the common cold or the flu will school authorities be more effective in enforcing the stay at home policy? I'm sorry could you repeat that again? On the issue of the common cold slash flu yes school authorities be more effective in enforcing the stay at home policy well there is a section on contagious disease but um remember that this is an education act and so it is a broad foundation um it doesn't it doesn't um get into the detail of advising or or telling or directing um school authorities on when when um students should and should not be at school um that would be more related to professional judgment and to managing the school community so um again the education act is a foundational uh document um that has the sort of the outline of of um how the education system operates it does not get into um specifics that that level of detail um Dr Williams did you want to respond to that and is there anything that I've missed there? Thank you for the question um as Mrs McKinnon has pointed out uh contagious diseases are dealt with in the act generally in section 197 and it does state that a student suffering from uh or exposed to a contagious disease shall not enter the premises of the school or be permitted to remain in the school however um every situation is unique and the principal and the teachers the principal in charge of the school has the leeway to make decisions about students going home so contagious diseases are referenced there's a process described for the principal to report the contagious diseases to the chief education officer and the chief medical officer that is outlined in the act and if I may add um I think we have seen with the present climate um school policies are being developed along with parents at the various schools parent communities so that um children but again you know we must also understand that sometimes the child weeks and uh is fine by the time they get to school or you know so there are many many issues so and um please know that we want to hear um somebody says will a copy of the draft be made available to educators before an acting is there currently a link for it I am sure that Miss Emanuel at the beginning of the meeting if we look into the chat there is a link made available so that um if you can access if you're on your thing um the link is there um https slash slash w w w dot equip eq u ip education gov education dot gov dot lc slash public dash notices and um documents so you can um go back and you can copy that link and you can just place it um in your bar and you will be able to download the documents I think we have um a couple more um questions just let me get back to the bottom to the top yes um can the act include compliance to standards of appropriate dress for parents and visitors the the um national code of conduct that's thank you for that question it's an excellent question the national code of conduct actually applies to those in the school community and and the national code of conduct does um speak to dress an appropriate dress and um and it is intended to capture everyone who is is within the school community as a volunteer or whatever so it is intended to be inclusive um and to provide guidelines again with the with the um suggested dress guidelines it talks about positive um sort of what is um respectful attire um and tries to create um uh the uh the understanding within a school community about respectful uh um address and appearance and how that creates a positive environment so it comes at it from a positive way and then provides some guidelines um Dr. Williams anything you wanted to add to that one no thank you paula that's that's everything yes and um I think um on page 41 um of the regulations um it is well spelt out um so that's an excellent question with online learning we have new misbehaviors to address what are the school's role responsibilities in dealing with disruptive behaviors in an online classroom thank you um and if this is we thank you for that question it's an excellent question and it's the one of the reasons that st. Lucian needs a new education act and supporting regulations because in the national code of conduct um there is one of the misbehaviors cited is cyber bullying so these new types of misbehavior are captured and and then uh become part of the discussion of how to first of all one because they're included and because the code of conduct will be discussed there will be we anticipate that there would be discussions within schools about what constitutes something like cyber bullying and then um and then what uh what would be expected positive behavior related to online um interaction uh so that as part of the learning experience learn uh students understand what the expectations are of the school community in terms of online interaction and then um students also understand that when a situation occurs that is not uh positive in terms of online interaction there are um there are responses um and those responses can be educational or they can be more uh of a uh a type of um response that actually encourages um encourages greater accountability we obviously as I mentioned we prefer educational responses and that can actually be um some kind of um of um of a reformative process um there's any number of them that are listed in the proposed code uh but we it is very important um as you have alluded to in your question that uh these sorts of misbehaviors be identified and that um principals uh vice principals and teachers feel empowered to respond to them just as they would respond to some of the more traditional forms of misbehavior that we're familiar with we have another question open flames are not permitted those uncalled pots are still used for cooking will schools have the discretion to use these so the the act is dealing with education um and uh thank you for the question um and we can certainly understand why you would be concerned um the um schools are obviously the act talks about educational programs and the delivery of education um the um the schools uh there are there is a section in the act that deals with the inspection of schools and the the responsibility of of educators to maintain a safe environment so this type of thing would fall under that but um we would fully expect that there would be policy in terms of what is acceptable in schools uh in terms of the maintenance of of safety in terms of the structure and operation of buildings that would be that would complement the act but that level of detail could not be included in the act may I ask a question this is maternal to the person who um posted this question is it an everyday use or is it for cultural activities because I um I'm very much aware that um some seasons with our um unique etc etc you know um cooking uncalled pots become or is it the norm or or what is it a daily occurrence if I could uh join in here please this is McKinnon all right um with regard to the um requirements around uh open flames not using them on on school premises that's referenced in the regulations uh the section that starts on page nine about school fundraising activities in public schools and assisted schools and it talks about um limitations on for example alcoholic beverages cannot be sold or served um that personal items cannot be sold during school fundraising activities etc and it says um in section 23 uh part three part two whether a fire or an open flame with the exception of that admitted by a stove shall not be allowed inside a public school or an assisted school building so this is referenced in the regulations with regard to fundraising activities in part three it says however a barbecue grill or a fire shall be kept away from a public school or an assisted school building and outside the reach of students so it that sounds to me that there was a recognition that there may be barbecues used for example at fundraising activities but they have to be kept at a distance from the public school or assisted school and beyond the reach of students and this is an instance where as paula has mentioned earlier there are many intersections between the education act and the regulations and other laws in st lusia and so fire safety requirements would place limitations on having open flames on on school premises um and there would be fire safety requirements around inspections of schools and fire drills so this is um where that particular prohibition is cited in the regulations in relation to fundraising activities at schools thank you dr. Williams that's great another question will there be any inclusion of parented workshops for parents at all schools at all levels of the education system so yes yes thank you so much for that question um so the the education act actually speaks to the importance of of parents and speaks to the importance of their involvement and their meaningful involvement and uh we would anticipate that um through the parent teacher community um organization that the that parents who um would um would feel it beneficial um to attend um um workshops or sessions on um enhancing their ability to support their sons or daughters in school um would that that would be available to them but the the act um does not uh require um that those types of supports be there that it's actually uh it is required of parents to ensure that they are able to support their sons or daughters in um in their uh active participation in school uh and to ensure that they um are at school and that they are supported in that work so it is it is it is a um a requirement for parents and it is um quite likely the role of these parent teacher community associations to support parents in that role Dr. Williams did you want to add anything there I know thank you Paula that's fine the question had gone on further to ask what plan is in place for this because the um individuals said children cannot learn if parents lack the necessary skills to attend to them holistically what plans are in place for this well once again um there is nothing specific in the education act that requires anyone to provide um parents with the uh with a program it is actually the parents um requirement to ensure that their children participate meaningful meaningfully in education and and so we um believe that because that uh requirement is articulated in the act that educators can call upon it to say to parents you know this is this is your responsibility to support us in educating your son or daughter and to work with parents if if the parents express that they have that they are um challenged or are not able to or whatever to to work with the parents to access um programs that will enable them to be uh more supportive of their sons and daughters if in fact they aren't being uh aren't being supportive um it is um we would hope that all parents um would want to be the other thing that is strengthened here is the role of the community because we do know in our communities that sometimes where parents uh are not as willing or receptive to be supportive of the education of their sons and daughters that the community supports that and opening um the um uh creating in the act this opening for greater community involvement also um leads to um um another uh option or opportunity for the for community to support education and um and students in their learning have another of late we have seen a marked increase in delinquent and criminal behavior portrayed by children from the primary school level and above what plans are in place to address effective conflict resolution skills being taught to students and teachers can perhaps this be taught from an early early um age um as early childhood education to tertiary level education can it be part of the curricula um that's that's a very good question i just wanted to go to um the the um section of the act that talks about the national curriculum so just unless dr. Williams you're there already um or mrs. anthony because i think in in terms of the national curriculum um it it actually focuses on um on um on um uh content skills and values and values is a component of that which opens the door for the type of um the type of um programming that you're talking about as part of the as part of the curriculum and i if you would just bear with me for a moment i'll i'll pull that up unless someone gets there be ahead of me which is totally fine well you're doing that paula if i could speak to this as well because it is an excellent question um in the national code of conduct in the regulations on page 39 for example it talks about the importance of teaching positive behavior uh to students it also speaks about prevention um including uh bullying prevention programs cyber safety programs and progressive discipline uh further to what paula was saying teaching students essential knowledge values and skills for positive behavior through various programs and supports such as character development education citizenship programs and anger management counseling also with regard to conflict mediation um in terms of responses to student misbehavior one of the uh strategies that teachers can use uh that's listed on page 44 in the regulations is uh conflict mediation and i would also add that at the start of the act um one of the uh enhancements that we're recommending under the powers of the minister is the provision of educational psychosocial supports and um under that heading you can provide social emotional programs for children starting in preschool and going right on up through to tertiary as you're asking so there is an accommodation there in the act uh through educational uh psychosocial supports and there are many excellent programs out there for young children and for um older children and youth and this is an excellent question and the the act and the regulations would accommodate that and we're we're also making note with regard to the curriculum well actually thank thank you so much dr williams and in terms of the national curriculum that's described in schedule five of the proposed regulation it uh uh part two says the program of instruction shall be based on curriculum outlines in each subject prepared and developed by the various curriculum committees and approved by the chief education officer and she'll also emphasize the inculcation of positive social attitudes to include citizen citizenship national and regional identity and appreciation of democratic values tolerance conflict management spirituality value of self and ability to live together so that is actually outlined in the national curriculum that's contained in the in schedule five of the regulations and that is in support or i i guess you would say that the code of conduct supports the curriculum and likewise the curriculum supports the code of conduct one more question on the last occasion it was said that the act could not cater to out of school situations but don't you believe the behavior of students on the way to and from school can negate impact and negatively sorry can negatively impact the school since those students can be identified through their uniforms and the search should be governed by the act so we've we've had extensive conversations about this and and students can wear uniforms for extended period of time when they're not on school premises and and we we believe that there is parental and family responsibility and student responsibility for appropriate behavior beyond the school compound and and that it is the responsibility of the student and or the parents to ensure appropriate behavior at all times whether or not they are in school uniform we we also thought that it is difficult and and perhaps almost unfair to ask school leaders and teachers to assume some responsibility for managing a student and responding to student behavior beyond the school premises so um so to date we have come down in this draft on uh indicating that um that the the scope of the national code of conduct um applies to um uh student members of the of the school community went on school premises or participating in school act school activities off uh beyond the premises we have another one will the new mandatory pre-kindergarten education be available for free um it the act says that um that the um that that um school uh the man of mandated the school schooling that occurs between the mandatory the mandatory age of of three to seventeen is provided without tuition um now we we know that um the ministry of education and the government and those who pay taxes to support the government um have limitations on on what is possible so this this um the act is meant to be um visionary in nature to have a goal to work toward but it is not expected that um instantly um all programs offered for um learners from age three to seventeen would be uh provided by the government but that over time um that would be possible have another question here this is wonderful yes the bill gives teachers principles etc the liberty to conduct and search a search on a student upon both reasonable upon both reasonable suspicion it also gives them the right to conduct a ransom a random sorry a random search arbitrary searches are prohibited by the constitution are these legal documents clashing what happens if a parent decides to sue on the ground that the constitutional right of the child has been violated this again was discussed extensively and um we do have as a member of our team um miss kim st. claire who is a lawyer and a drafter and who um actually served as attorney general um for st lucha she has looked into this extensively and believes that if educators um feel that um that the safety and security of the school environment is compromised um by a student or a member of the community then the um educator has the right to conduct a search to be sure that the environment is safe and that the the um conduct or the the um the the searching and uh perhaps seizure um if if it is in response to a concern that others are in danger or the individual is in danger um then that is is not in conflict with constitutional rights um uh dr wins did you want to add to that i know paula that's fine are we taking the rest of the questions we have a few of them or would you like to come back to the questions no i i yes i think we should um we're we're actually dipping into the regulations which is the next slide in the presentation anyway so this is a wonderful way to dip into the regulations so yes it's important that persons be able to ask their questions is there anything concerning the use of school premises for social activities to curtail the introduction of the introduction of substances like alcohol or drugs onto those premises where the school is in operation or not is there anything concerning the use of on the school premises of alcohol and drugs uh yes uh most definitely so um there's there's rules in the proposed regulations around or actually no there's rules in the proposed proposed act around extracurricular activities and the consumption of alcohol um and obviously illegal use of drugs is um included in the um uh national code of conduct the proposed national code of conduct so there are guidelines with regard to that um contained in the act and regulations um did you want to provide additional detail dr Williams yes thank you paula um in the miscellaneous section at the end of the draft education act section 200 is the prohibition of the sale of alcohol tobacco cigarettes drugs and drug paraphernalia and in this section it states that a person who sells offers or exposes for sale uh so a wide range there alcohol tobacco cigarettes drugs or drug paraphernalia on the premises of a school commits an offense and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of five thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term of two years or both so there is a prohibition and also the consequences for that in addition the next section of the act 201 201 um describes the the ban against loitering on school premises so there are provisions made in the act to prevent alcohol and drugs on school premises and loitering as well thank you thank you very much we have another one here is there anything attaching civil liability to parents for certain actions by the children while under the care and the control of the school civil liability dr Williams can you respond to that one there is um in terms of the the rights and duties of parents as mrs mckinnon has alluded to earlier uh duties for parents to communicate and collaborate with the school and the education of their child to ensure that their child attends school regularly and punctually there's also student accountability spelled out in the act uh to follow the direction of teachers for example to participate in the educational programming that's provided for them but there's nothing specific about civil liability of parents um if their child breaches the behavior standards for example um that's not addressed explicitly in the act or the regulations thank you we have another one is there a relaxation method for teachers and students during stress related issues for example massage sessions for release of stress so the the national code of conduct that is contained in the proposed regulations talks about maintaining a positive um school environment um talks about um creating an environment where stress is um minimized as much as possible but we do recognize that there are times when when um persons are stressed and that can be any any person in a in a school environment student teacher um and programs such as those are um usually something that is negotiated in terms of in terms of teachers principles vice principles and others are those supports are usually things that are negotiated as part of employment or part of um uh contractual relationships through a union or in terms of teachers being appointed through the teaching service commission so um those sorts of sorts of things that we would call employment supports are normally left to in uh in employment agreements now in spirit um in terms of the education act and the proposed regulations there is a a responsibility of all to create a positive school environment to help minimize those stressful situations so it's it's described I would say in terms of the act and the regulations more through a preventative approach than a responsive approach that would be more of a an employment related um uh action one more we have one more wonderful for students who are not immunized for religious purposes beliefs will they be denied acceptance in the education system actually this is something that um has come up in an earlier town hall and it's something that we have committed to looking into more uh thoroughly in terms actually the um those within the the ministry of education have actually asked us to look into it more uh more thoroughly so that the the act could be um could include a process for those who are not immunized because of um of religious um because of of the religion so um right now it is probably more restrictive than persons would want but it is something that has been raised and something that we will look at in terms of uh drafting uh uh the next version of the act of the proposed act I think this is the last oh sorry go ahead Dr. Williams yes okay um I just wanted to flag there was uh several questions here about safeguarding my question is concerning safeguarding does the act consider nuanced factors such as teachers and students facing mental health challenges you go right ahead Dr. Williams um thank you for the question and mental health and wellness is a very important consideration especially in the wake of the pandemic um we have updated for example the categories of special needs in the act to include mental health challenges and as mrs. McKinnon has pointed out um with regard to positive behavior it we've really emphasized the provision of supports we recognize that some students misbehave um in association with mental health challenges so we've recommended supportive measures um be put in place for the students who require them the next question is additionally does the amendment explicitly address or encompass provisions that attend to specific needs of students dealing with mental illnesses within the scope of safeguarding measures and as I've just stated we have emphasized the provision of behavioral supports in the act and also in the national code of conduct and the regulations and as mentioned earlier educational psychosocial supports may be offered by the minister and they would assist uh some of them would assist students with mental health challenges as well um just carrying on with this list of questions moreover within the purview of teacher student safety will the amended act underscore the significance of stringent background checks for educators um here is an area where as mrs. McKinnon has pointed out we have another crossover with legislation uh for example with the teaching service commission um who are the um body that lead the hiring and appointment of educators so the background checks would would be fall under their jurisdiction and for that reason it's not addressed in the act and the last one in this sequence will it elucidate measures to ensure diligent enforcement of our periodic appraisals thereby thereby preventing the presence of unsuitable or unqualified individuals within educational environments and again the intersection here is with the legislation and the oversight of the teaching service commission um I don't know mrs. McKinnon if you wanted to speak to that further so the so um the act does indicate that um if if an educator is not upholding their responsibilities then it it um there is the avenue to report it to the teaching service commission so it does actually the education act does link over to the teaching service commission which uh based on the advice that we have received um uh legally that's a that's really about as far as the ed education act can go without infringing on on the rights of the teaching service commission as outlined in that legislation excellent question thank you two final questions in this section um under the duties of the principal there seem to be a lot of reporting to the chief education officer which seems to diminish the role of the education officer can the duties be framed in such a way that there is a stronger supervisory relationship between the principal and the education officer that's a very that's a very good question thank you um the the um the the the duties of the chief education officer can be delegated and and so um what we were trying to do in terms of introducing um the role of the education officer um into the education act and outlining the role of the um education officer was to um outline general responsibilities but um provide the opportunity for the chief education officer to delegate as appropriate so we were trying to create a balance between things that would naturally fall into an education officer's domain and those that could be at the discretion of the chief education officer delegated to the education officer keeping in mind that those roles could change over time so um yes it is certainly something that we could look at to make it to make the role of the education officer as defined in the act more fulsome but we also want to ensure that there is the opportunity for evolution over time so I've noted that thank you and there is a last comment here I'm sorry that I must this must have jumped and I missed a few questions um I think the misunderstanding regarding the question is not about passing on responsibility of students' behavior outside of school premises to school administration but to provide the school the legislative authority to take action to protect the school should it be necessary so so thank you for that comment and for the for that clarification um but um I from our perspective um if you actually provide that authority you're also creating an expectation and and so our recommendation um was that um that the requirement on those at the school to um manage behavior uh off the school property would be limited and and so we we understand what you're saying about um giving them the right to do that but also with that right we believe becomes an ex comes an expectation that's it so far missus mcconnell no thank you very much and thank you all for those those excellent questions and comments um in terms of the um in terms of where we are oh sorry there we are um um so in terms of the the draft regulations and keep in mind that these uh please that these draft regulations are um are um the first um to be just one moment please um are the first of of um um uh are the first time that regulations would be in place um to support the education act at least in recent history and it is they are designed to provide greater detail on the um operation of the education act so um in section in the preliminary section um the the regulations are linked to the act um so that they it is very clear that they support the act in part one the administration of of schools it um it addresses the school year um in terms of number of instructional days and one of the things that we heard from straight stakeholders including teachers was that um there is concern about the ability to cover the curriculum and ensure that learners have the opportunity to um learn everything in the number of days available so um in terms of the regulations um that's that's described um it it provides also information on the school day and school calendar and when school vacations occur um it talks about the establishment of school timetables to again fully address the curriculum it talks about student admission it talks about student admission and um and and zoning and then part two talks about the national curriculum and I described some of that in schedule that isn't included in schedule five and in that national curriculum um it there is the aligning with the national qualifications framework which again is something that has been introduced in st lucha and then the national curriculum describes primary and secondary curriculum and one of the things that we have um have uh that has been uh uh raised in these town hall sessions is that we do not describe in currently in the national curriculum an early childhood curriculum and generally what would be comprised there and that is something that we've taken under advisement and we will seek to address um in response to um or as we prepare the proposed version or the the version the version of the uh the next version of the uh proposed act and regulations and then part three addresses the management of schools um and talks about the management of public schools assisted schools private schools talks about homeschooling so provides more detail about homeschooling about school visits and inspections and that section has been there was no section before um and so that provides uh significant detail in terms of what would happen um during um school or during visits and inspections um so that the again there's people understand what can happen during those visits and inspections part four describes the detail on councils and association students council national students council parent teacher community associations national council of parent community uh parent teacher community associations part five which we've talked about um in quite a bit of detail tonight talks about the national code of conduct and then associated with part five is schedule eight which actually contains the proposed national code of conduct part six talks about discipline and disciplinary complaints and hearing the hearing of disciplinary complaints part seven provides an appeal process and then part eight has miscellaneous schedules and forms such as application forms registration forms those sorts of things so that is the overview of the regulations many much of which we have discussed in through the question and answer that has gone on during the session this evening um so are there any further questions that you might have about or comments that you might have about the regulations okay um and then if you would either in the chat or or raise your hand and share with us um what are the top three priorities that need to be addressed in the draft education and act and regulation from your perspective so what things do you think are most important for uh to exist in the draft education act and regulations and secondly what do you hope will come out of the draft education act and regulations so what are your your hopes for um this uh this process um of um defining a new education act and regulations so if you can think about that and perhaps post that in the chat or raise your hand and describe those uh to us that would be helpful because that helps us get a sense of what is is most important um to you who have taken the time to be with us this evening anyone want to comment there so in terms of uh next steps as as I mentioned at the outset um we are um we are holding these um uh town hall meetings to provide you with an opportunity to ask questions and provide comments uh um about the proposed act and regulations um as you would have known when you came into the meeting um you are uh the the meeting is being recorded and we will analyze to identify the main topics and issues that have been raised in the in the town hall meetings um these topics and issues will be addressed in the next version of the draft act and regulations um and uh based on um um what we're hearing there are many common things that we need to consider um in particular areas of the act and regulations um that would um that uh we will respond to in terms of the the sections of of the proposed act and regulations and then from our perspective um and the work that we have in this consultancy we will generate a final draft education act uh with our recommendations and and an accompanying report um and submit that to um the ministry of education um for uh advancement we hope through the approval process so um we are your consultants we serve um to advise and make recommendations on the proposed uh education act and regulations and then it is the vision that those would then be um advanced through the approval process of your duly elected cabinet and parliament um so that the education act um will be a much more modern act that serves to support you and the learners um um in the vision for education that you have and that at the same time the regulations will be approved the accompanying regulations will be approved to support educators as um you many of you in the uh and participating this evening our educators to support you um and the members of school communities uh to enact uh what is contained in the education act once approved um so our work uh has been that of consultation and recommendation and identifying um areas of concern from stakeholders and responding to that um and that's what we continue to do as we will develop the next um draft of the proposed education act and regulations we have um we have three priorities let's do that yes in fact we have more than three we have student discipline school safety acceptable allocation of resources for schools island wide the national code of conduct management of schools rights and responsibilities of parents students and educators thank you that's excellent um so we have gone past time but um we are very happy to do it and we are very happy for your questions and comments this evening um one never knows when six o'clock comes and we have um uh and we we start off one never knows where the conversation will uh will head and tonight um the the questions and the comments have enabled a rich discussion and exchange um we didn't hear many voices but we did see lots of questions and comments in the chat and we are very very grateful to you for taking the time this evening and for your uh to participate actively in this town hall session um I I would just like to say um um um thank you to those of you who are to you for participating this evening and for those of you who are participating um from the school uh we wish you a safe travel home and and thank you for leaving your homes this evening and coming to a central location to participate in this town hall on that I will turn it over to my colleagues doctor oh you turn it over um let me just um acknowledge three more go ahead mrs anthony special education support services and access and show parents play a role in getting children tested so for teachers mental wellness and health thank you this came in this just came in I think we're thinking yes that's great and mrs anthony would you like to add anything to the closing no just um to say that I think um in spite of not hearing voices just as you said the um discourse has been very rich um I wanted to ask um if there was anything that we had left out that we should have put in there but I think um as the questions came things have been covered well and I just need to add my voice to say sincere thanks to everyone those who are online with us and those who might be um at the um binfield school where they were meeting in person we thank you ever so much and we have heard your voices we will take into consideration the matters that you have raised thank you very much thank you mrs anthony and dr william I would just like to echo sincere thanks for the questions and the participation this evening it's been very helpful and we really appreciate the input of st lucians in this uh really important work thank you all thank you and mr geese we will turn it over to you to close the meeting and to thank you for chairing um this important meeting this evening over to you mr geese thank you mrs polo mcconan mrs polo mcconan mrs fortuna anthony dr monica william thank you very much for an excellent presentation principles and teachers thank you very much for your cooperation and ensuring that we have participants at tonight's town hall meeting parents ladies and gentlemen as team guests and fellow community members I want to express my sincere gratitude to everyone of you for your thoughtful contribution and engaged participation tonight we have witnessed a diverse array of perspectives ideas and concerns our town hall meeting has served as a platform for open dialogue fostering an environment where ideas have been shared I want to assure you um colleagues in district six that your voices have been have been heard the collective wisdom shared will be invaluable as we work towards shaping policies that will impact not only our current generation of students but generation to come thank you once again for your time passion and dedication good night and may our shared commitment to education continue to guide us on this important journey thank you very much thank you and have a wonderful evening and thank you for the people who accompanied us here at the binfield comprehensive secondary school we are signing off from the binfield comprehensive secondary school good evening good evening thank you thank you and bye everybody thank you thank you thank you goodbye thank you goodbye thank you i don't like this don't get home safely all right we will yes yes at home keep safe as well but those who came out get home safely god bless okay bye


Okay, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Massoud Irod, and I will talk about modeling of turbulent flow through the ejector of a two-stage ejector refrigeration system. First I should say some introduction about the work. The energy requirements from low-cost resources direct us toward using refrigeration cycles instead of conventional systems because in ejector and absorption cycles it's possible to use solar energy, geothermal energy, and also dissipative energies from combustions, for example, systems. And ejector cycles have lower coefficient of performance. Actually, we denote it by COP during the presentation. Yeah, the COP are less than common stream compression cycles, but they need less equipments. It's very important and no lubrication. It's required and also they have low cost of maintenance. So these are the advantages of ejector refrigeration cycles. Here we can see the components of a conventional ejector refrigeration cycle denoted by CERC, a generator, an evaporator, an ejector, a pump, and an expansion valve. So about the ejector, first I should say that ejector is the heart of this system and it's a substitution for mechanical compressors in compression refrigeration systems. It has two essential tasks, the ejector. First, making the vacuum and discharging the fluids. And the other task is to mix the fluids we will see in the next slide. That's how does it work. Actually, it's a simple model of a vacuum pump or compressor, I mean the ejector, without moving parts. It uses the kinetic energy of high pressure fluid before it exists from the generator here and move low pressure fluid and taint, exit from the evaporator and taint it and mix them together. About the generator as mentioned before, using the dissipative energies or solar energy or geothermal energy, we can prepare the heat for the generator. In a refrigeration cycle with solar energy generator, actually solar collectors are used in a closed cycle, another cycle to warm up the operating fluid and then it exchange its heat using a heat exchanger with the refrigerant, which works through the cycle. About the condenser, I can say that as you know, the heat of vaporized refrigerant is exchanged with the condensation fluid, which is water on air, for example, and about the expansion valve, the expansion valve has two tasks. First, to close the liquid refrigerant from condenser to evaporator with the same rate of evaporation and then to make a pressure difference between them, that both of them can work properly. Here is a schematic of an ejector and we can see different parts consist of a nozzle, a constant diameter part section and also a diffuser. Initial fluids, initial fluids, number one flows through the nozzle and expand isentropic holy to pressure P2, we will see in the next slide and move. And this flow moves the intained fluid with pressure PE and TE from the evaporator. This with number two comes from the evaporator and this flow from the nozzle intains is another one with itself. So then the flows are mixed after the chock region of the nozzle, they will mix here and before constant diameter parts, they will mix, they will be mixed. Then supersonic mixed flow of fluid flows through the constant diameter pipe, this section and a normal shock will occur at this section which increase the pressure from supersonic to subsonic. It's better to see it in the next slide. Here is the diagram of pressure and also the velocity. Before this is the isentropic part through the nozzle, then here is a normal shock wave where the pressure increases and the velocity decreases to subsonic from supersonic. This one, this dashed line is the sonic velocity line. Okay, the location of shock wave depends on you know that it depends on the back pressure in the condenser. Finally, the subsonic flow inserts the diffuser and compressed isentropic to pressure P index by C between generator and evaporator. This is how an ejector operates. But the idea here is to use a two-stage ejector for the refrigeration cycle. A two-stage ejector despite the common models doesn't, it doesn't mean to separate the ejectors, to use two separate ejectors in parallel or series. But we use an unconventional model in which the ejectors are measured into a structure. So what happened in a two-stage ejector is that the first stage ejector has no diffuser and it is connected from constant diameter part, its constant diameter part to the second one. So the first one has no diffuser just connected directly from its constant section part to the next ejector. And it consists of a generator but the generator is a two-circuit generator, a condenser again, an expansion valve, circulation pump, circulation pump and a two-stage ejector which can be seen here. And the working fluid is water. So here is a schematic of a two-stage ejector and this is the geometry we modeled and the information of dimensions, the length and the radius, heights can be seen in this table. Also we can see the connection parts between different parts of two-stage ejectors in this figure. So the objectives are using CFD to model and investigate the performance of the ejector based on the cycle operating conditions. Then comparing one stage with two-stage ejector refrigeration cycle using EES software which help us to, the software, the EES software can help us to obtain the transport and thermodynamic properties of working fluid. And then studying the effect of cycle parameters such as evaporator and generator temperatures on the cycle general performance and the system coefficient of performance. Here are the governing equations. I'm not going to explain more about the equations because we use a solver, flange solver. So it's just to say that we use the standard K-epsilon model to compute the turbulent viscosity applying coupled implicit solver. And for near wall treatment we use the standard wall function which gives reasonably accurate results for the wall-bounded high Reynolds flows. Here is the grid network. We use simply structured tetrahedral grids. It's fine mesh near the nazes and some other areas like, such as the walls, near the walls. The solution algorithm is to solve the governing equations by camera calls CFD package flue and ends. They are discretized using the console volume technique. We use the second order of wind discretization scheme for the momentum turbulent kinetic energy and turbulent energy dissipation rate. And also a quick scheme was used for volume fraction. A reduction factor of 0.2 was used for the pressure momentum while it was 0.1 for the slip velocity volume fraction and K-epsilon. We use also experimental data of gas phase holdup to determine the outlet boundary condition for our CFD modeling. The process of solving multi-phase systems now that's inherently it's difficult. So to improve the convergence we have here the initial solution calculation is recommended. It is obtained the initial solution I mean by solving the volume fraction and slip velocity equations only once a converged initial solution was obtained then we enable the volume fraction and the slip velocity equations and also and then the mixture model is computed. The solution is iterated until the convergence is achieved such that the residual of each equation falls below 10 powered by minus 3. Okay there are many several results from the contours, different contours for the mark pressure and so on. And also we have some validation with some analytical and experimental results but here I just present just one contour. Here you can see the counter of Mach number through the ejector of first stage. At the inflow of the ejector yeah we can see that the velocity is very low at the nozzle throat of the first ejector the Mach number reaches unity here and then it increases to supersonic state at the exit the velocity increases significantly and hence the pressure is reduced and the required vacuum is obtained here and this vacuum is required for the suction of the flow from the evaporator. The next slide we can see some good results from cycle coefficient of performance versus evaporator temperature in different generator temperatures. As we can see here as the generator temperature increases in a constant at a constant evaporator temperature we can see that the coefficient of performance decrease since the work of the pump and also the heat of the generator both increase and also the heat of the evaporator slightly decrease as the generator temperature increases. Also the mass ratio of the first and second stage ejector both increase and the ejector exit temperature also increase. All of these results in decrease in the coefficient of performance by increasing the generator temperature. The next slide also we can see that here is the mass ratio of the ejector of the first stage versus evaporator temperature as I mentioned when the evaporator temperature increase the mass ratio decreases and also the ejector exit temperature exhaust temperature also decreases. These happen at constant generator and compressor temperatures when also the evaporator temperature increases the heat of evaporator increase and while the heat of generator and the work of the pump remain constant so the coefficient of performance increase in this case. Here is also the mass ratio for the second stage ejector of second stage versus evaporator temperature the same behavior can be seen here for the second stage. So we see we saw that increasing the generator temperature while the evaporator and condenser temperatures are constant leads to increase in mass ratio at the first and second stage as well as the exhaust temperature of the ejector. Also we showed that at the generator temperature as the generator temperature increases the heat of generator and the work of the pump also increase while the heat of evaporator slightly decreases. Hence the COP of the cycle is reduced this means that it is possible to use different generator temperatures according to the application. Increasing the evaporator temperature causes the mass ratio and ejector outlet temperature to decrease hence depending on the application and the ambient temperature also is possible to use higher evaporator pressures. Also we observed that as Q of evaporator ascends but Q of generator and work of the pump do not change as the evaporator temperature descends therefore the coefficient of performance is increased. Finally it would be worth to say that although R20, R245FA refrigerant which we used here in some parts as working fluid has no damaging effects on the ozone layer and also has a high mass ratio however it's high cost very high greenhouse effect and low cycle COP with this working fluid are the limitations. Thank you very much for your attention. But the next presentation is also for me. Yeah this is the name of the first author I'm the second third author I will present