Taipei, June 30 (CNA) - A record number of students from St. Lucia have been granted scholarships this year by the Taiwan government, mainly because of the good performance of those already studying in Taiwan, according to Taiwan's ambassador to the Caribbean country.

Taiwan Ambassador to St. Lucia Tom Chou said Wednesday that with the support and promotional efforts of the St. Lucian government, more and more students have been applying for Taiwan scholarships.

Organized by the UNESCO Office in Brasilia, the Regional Office of Education for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNESCO Santiago) and the Secretariat of Distance Education of the Ministry of Education of Brazil, the international conference "The impact of ICT education, analyzed and discussed the training of teachers in information technology and communications (ICT), and evaluated the impact of ICT on the quality of education in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In November 2002, OECS Prime Ministers meeting with the President of the World Bank, discussed the need to diversify the economies of the Caribbean through institutional innovation, new technologies and regional cooperation embodied in the concept of the Centre of Excellence.

The CKLN Project was presented to Prime Ministers of the OECS and endorsed by the Ministers of Education at their June 23, 2003 meeting.  It was also presented to the Ninth Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD, 2003), and to the 15th Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community ( March 2004, St. Kitts).  Heads of Government endorsed the project as a crucial step in building the capacity of the people of the Region.

 The University of Guyana (UG) in partnership with Nova Southeastern University is offering a one-off Masters of Education Programme which will be effected through interactive classes at UG and online courses. The programme was launched earlier today at the Education Lecture Theatre, University of Guyana, Turkeyen Campus. 

Minister of Education Shaik Baksh during his remarks pointed out that the programme is being offered since Government recognises the need to build capacity and for training to be offered at a higher level to enable the education sector to move forward.

The Minister stated that Government remains strongly committed to the development of the education sector and is ensuring that more funds are made available to develop the human resources.

The programme will cost Government $1.5M per student and the Minister pointed out that Government expects value for money. He urged that the students stay the course and ensure that they complete the programme since they were chosen based on their performance at the first Degree level. He also expressed the hope that students would not ‘drop out’.

ASSAU, Bahamas (BIS): US Ambassador to The Bahamas Ned Siegel has pledged to continue the literacy programme in the schools that was started by his predecessor John Rood. 

Siegel told the Minister of Lands and Local Government, Sidney Collie during a courtesy call on Wednesday, that the US Embassy also plans on taking the programme to the Family Islands.“Today I have my first reading at Woodcock Elementary at 11:45 a.m., and I already have my book picked out and look forward to reading to the second grade,” Siegel said.