The Challenges of Planning For The Future

There is no doubt that many small island nations face a very precarious future.  Leaders know this, but in reality they have many, many constraints to mitigation measures.  The Organisation for Eastern Caribbean States were recently looking at how they can reduce the flow of foreign exchange from their shores from their dependence on fossil fuel purchases.  They concluded that no paradigm shift could occur without outside investment partnership.   In this regard, the situation is the same for the development of a more resilient school system.  

Despite the cost, many islands have decided to escape the  trauma of another blanket power outage, amid a humanitarian crisis. Instead, they have plans.   Irma gave officials more of am impetus to move forward with alternatives.  Power outages significantly reduce the  chance to learn remotely. They also threaten  the  functionality digital communications network down.  

The BVI have been receiving help from the  Rocky Mountain Institute, a U.S.-based non-profit helping the island's renewable energy transition.

On the main island of Tortola, a privately funded 3-megawatt solar project led by local firm Caribbean Alternative Energy.  There are also initiatives from State utility providers.  There are plans to establish a  300-kilowatt hybrid solar, wind and energy storage system on Anegada, a remote northern island, once an agreement to lease crown land is signed.

There are also plans to spread the risk of outages by fitting solar panels on car-ports and school roofs on Tortola and Virgin Gorda, the BVI's third-largest island.

One of the ways in which the private sector will be encouraged to install solar devices is to ensure that residents can sell surplus electricity back to the grid. These micro measures are to ensure that all the electrical generation instruments are not all in one basket.

Recovery to Development Plan Of The British Virgin Islands

 

Impact on the British Virgins Island Education System

Interestingly, the impact of Hurricane Irma is measured in the easily quantifiable aspects like school infrastructure damage.  The extract below illustrates this point;

"The education sub-sector incurred significant damage mainly to the public school infrastructure. The hurricanes caused varying levels of damage to most of the public school facilities across the Virgin Islands. Six of the eighteen public schools were totally destroyed7 and were rendered unusable with the remainder experiencing mild to moderate damage to roof, windows and doors. The
main secondary school – Elmore Stoutt High School (ESHS), lost majority of its buildings and will have to be reconstructed. Private primary and secondary schools received some damage but were for the most part usable. The only tertiary institution - the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College (HLSCC) suffered major damage to the main building at Paraquita Bay Campus as well as the
Virgin Gorda satellite campus. Roof and window damage along with loss of furniture and equipment resulted in loss of teaching and classroom time. The closure period averaged from four to eight weeks depending on the extent of damage to school infrastructure. Total cost to education was approximately US$60.0 million."

Recovery to Development Plan Of The British Virgin Islands (page 9)

The report does briefly discuss the trauma of Hurricane Irma, but there does not appear to be any attempt to measure the impact on achievement or wellbeing. On a positive note, it spurred the BVI Government to try and move the educational reform agenda forward.

Building Back Better

Re imagining a better system to deliver more equitable outcomes was the dream from Puerto Rico to  Barbuda.  No jurisdiction desired to return to what was.  It had to be better.  That is easier said than done.  As mentioned before, change costs money and time.  Unesco established the Global Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience in the Education Sector (GADRRRES).

UNESCO Investing In The Future.

Global Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience in the Education Sector (GADRRRES). The Alliance, which UNESCO co-chairs while hosting the secretariat, promotes a comprehensive approach to DRR education based on three overlapping areas of focus (pillars):

The aims are quite holistic and go far beyond the buildings and infrastructure.  In the era of climate change, these conversations need to move forward so that real steps can be taken to ensure that Caribbean students are not disadvantaged by more frequent climate events.  After all, warmer oceans will birth stronger and more frequent hurricanes.