Minister for Education, Youth Affairs and Sports Honourable Sharie B. de Castro (AL) has announced that a new secondary school will be constructed on the eastern end of Tortola. Photo: Facebook

The Ministry of education launched a month of activities to observe education month 2026. Photo: Government of the Virgin Islands

Hon de Castro (AL) made the announcement during a press conference on Monday, March 2, 2026, to mark the start of Education Month, under the theme: 'Innovate, Inspire, Transform a reimagined education for all'.

"Future focus investment continues. This year, we have also allocated funding for the design of a new secondary technical school on the eastern end of Tortola, a facility that will expand access, expand opportunity, and support technical and applied learning aligned with the future of our economy."

ASPS groundbreaking set for 2nd quarter of 2026

She also announced that the ministry will break ground for the new Althea Scatliffe Primary School in a few months.

"I am pleased to say that we are now on our way to breaking ground on the Althea Scatliffe Primary School before the end of the 2nd quarter of this year," she stated.

The Althea Scatliffe Primary School was demolished in April 2023 due to safety concerns.

Ministry committed to investing in education

Honourable De Castro stated that the Virgin Islands is committed to building students who will then build the Virgin Islands by not only building schools but also making equally historic investments in resources within the schools.

"Schools cannot function on office supplies alone, and for too long resourcing our schools meant replenishing basic office supplies, but over the past few years, we made a deliberate shift, a phase shift, an intentional shift, away from simply supplying schools to strategically equipping them."

The Ministry of Education launched a month of activities to observe Education Month. Among the activities are Teach for a Day, Early Childhood Book Parades, Pre-Primary Games, Inter-Primary Sports Events, Commonwealth Day observances, the National Science and Innovation Fair, Rep Your College Friday, student-led open houses across schools, educator professional development sessions, leadership conferences, and parent engagement initiatives.