December 12, 2008 No. 35/08-BD BASIC EDUCATION ENHANCEMENT PROJECT IN ST. LUCIA GETS CDB FINANCING Almost 4,000 students currently enrolled in five primary and three secondary schools in St. Lucia, and the 200 teachers who work in these schools will benefit from a project to be financed by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). CDB's Board of Directors has approved a loan equivalent to USD12 million to the Government of St. Lucia, for a Basic Education Enhancement Project. It involves the rehabilitation and upgrading of the eight target schools, and a quality enhancement component aimed at improving access to quality education in St. Lucia. Approximately 1,300 teaching staff at the primary and secondary levels will benefit from training geared to enhance competencies in key subjects and non-academic areas such as early childhood screening and diagnosis, multi-grade teaching methods, classroom management, differentiated instruction, student assessment, multi-media teaching methodology and technology in education. This project follows on from an Economic Recovery Project for St. Lucia financed by CDB in 2003, which comprised the rehabilitation and upgrading of primary schools, and accords with the Government of St. Lucia's strategy for education, based on its Education Sector Development Plan.