Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis, September 5, 2025 (UNESCO National Commission) – In a timely and symbolic conclusion to the tripartite work involving UNESCO, the St. Kitts and Nevis Ministry of Education and the Open University of Tanzania (OUT), UNESCO’s Assistant Director General for Education, Ms. Stafania Giannini, was at hand this week in Paris to hear a debriefing from the key actors in the launch of a tailor-made Bachelors Degree in Education designed for the Federation’s teaching force.
In what ADG Ms. Giannini described as a “remarkable agreement designed to scale-up the quality of teaching in St. Kitts and Nevis”, the remote-based degree study programme offered by OUT and scheduled to commence later in September for some 28 now-registered teachers, was a “real model to be hopefully replicable in similar ways in the Caribbean region”. She praised, in particular, the tripartite approach adopted by the partners in reaching “the training agreement and putting in place, with limited resources, the ingredients of the customised degree programme. “We are always stronger together.”
ADG Ms. Giannini stated: “I wish also to take this opportunity to recognize the crucial role in the process of, and very constructive cooperation with, the Hon. Minister Geoffrey, Hanley and his team, and Ambassador Doyle”
The debriefing session held at UNESCO HQ in Paris included the Federation’s special envoy to UNESCO Ambassador David P. Doyle; Dr Janeth Kigobe, Dean of the Faculty of Education at the Open University of Tanzania, her OUT colleague, Dr. Elizabeth Bhalalusesa, UNESCO Chair on Teacher Education and Curriculum; Mr. Aggrey Meena, Counsellor at the Permanent Delegation of Tanzania to UNESCO and Mr. Carlos Vargas, UNESCO Chief of Section for Teacher Development.
Presenting on behalf of the Vice Chancellor of the Open University of Tanzania, Prof. Alex Makulilo, Dr. Janeth Kigobe stated:
“The Vice Chancellor wishes to assure the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis and UNESCO of the University’s unwavering commitment to the success of this important partnership. OUT stands ready to provide high-quality academic instruction, ongoing mentorship, and a flexible digital learning environment to ensure that the Federation’s teachers are fully supported in their professional development. Prof. Makulilo also wishes to express his deep appreciation to the Government of Tanzania, and in particular to H.E. Ali Jabir Mwadini, Tanzania’s Ambassador to France and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, as well as to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) of Tanzania, for their keen interest and strong support in advancing this mission”.
“We are proud to join hands with UNESCO and the Ministry of Education in St. Kitts and Nevis in advancing teacher training through this innovative programme, and we look forward to building on this collaboration to strengthen education systems across the Caribbean and other small island developing states.”
During the debriefing, the Permanent Delegation of Tanzania expressed its “appreciation for the support extended by UNESCO as well as the trust shown by St. Kitts and Nevis to the Open University of Tanzania”. The Delegation also commended the efforts by Ambassador Doyle on this project and “committed to advance cooperation with the Federation to make sure that the project is not only successfully implemented in the country but also replicated in other friendly countries with similar needs”.
The genesis of this initiative arose from UNESCO-initiated negotiations between the St. Kitts and Nevis Ministry of Education and the Open University of Tanzania, culminating in the MOU agreement, signed in October 2024. In partnership with UNESCO, the agreement offers access to the University’s Bachelor’s Degree, aimed at strengthening the capacities of teachers in education and training provision, management, research, monitoring and evaluation.
Following a UNESCO review of the St. Kitts and Nevis education policy framework in 2017, a central recommendation was the scaling-up of the basic qualifications of existing teachers, to ensure that they are better trained and qualified to undertake teaching at all levels in the national education system.
As noted by the St. Kitts and Nevis Minister of Education, Dr. Geoffrey Hanley: “the OUT solution is a distinct cost-effective, time-efficient and robust response to the urgent need identified by St. Kitts and Nevis in investing the country’s teachers with an appropriate skills-set at both academic and pedagogical levels”.
The overarching objective in the two years ahead, in cooperation with UNESCO, is to:
– Significantly scale-up the professionalization of the country’s teaching force to a minimum level of academic achievement
– Enable a more structured ITC training component for teachers in the OUT curriculum, thereby enhancing their digital-literacy skills
– Reduce the high cost and disruption of teachers having to take training leave by extensively using digital modalities to deliver the courses
Following fund-raising efforts by Ambassador David Doyle, sufficient UNESCO-driven resources were secured, and ultimately offered by Minister Hanley as ‘scholarships’ to cover most of the OUT tuition charges for some 28 teachers. It is envisaged that a further cohort of over 20 teachers will be registered with OUT over 2026.
Commented Minister Hanley:
“Significantly, with the Ministry of Education initiating this partnership with the Open University of Tanzania, St. Kitts and Nevis is marking a regional first.”
“I’m happy to report that OUT courses for our teachers will be starting soon, and, for the first time, the Ministry of Education, via our relationship with the Open University of Tanzania, will offer 28 of our teachers scholarships to upgrade themselves in bachelor’s degree in education. This initiative is linked to our partnership with UNESCO. I am happy to report that we are the first country in the Caribbean to have this arrangement.”
Ambassador Doyle, based at UNESCO in Paris, commented: “The conclusion to St. Kitts and Nevis’ agreement with the Open University of Tanzania marks a successful South-South and triangular development milestone. With UNESCO’s support, as we seek to attain the SDG’s in education, this initiative could form the basis of a model to be replicated by other small island developing states in scaling-up teachers’ professional qualifications”.
H.E. Nerys Dockery, Secretary General of the UNESCO National Commission continues to provide support to this critical initiative and stated that “I am pleased to see this pioneering initiative move from concept to the
classroom. It is the result of a broad collaborative effort, however special mention and thanks are extended to Ambassador David Doyle and the Hon. Dr. Geoffrey Hanley for their bold vision and assiduous pursuit of this matter. I wish the first cohort of student-teachers all the very best for a successful completion of their bachelor’s degree in Education programme. Great things are happening in the Ministry of Education.”
