Education in the British Virgin Islands

Overview

Education in the British Virgin Islands is largely free and is a requirement for children ages 5 to 17. The British Virgin Islands has a total of 15 public primary schools and 4 secondary public schools. In addition to the public schools, there are 10 primary private schools and 3 secondary private schools. The School year is from September to June. The British Virgin Islands is a part of the British Overseas Territories and therefore the educational system is very similar to the traditional learning system in the United Kingdom. Primary schools are focused on establishing the basics of an academic curriculum and host students between the ages of 5 to 12. After the completion of Primary school, students move on to Secondary school. Secondary school is for students between the ages of 13 and 17. Following the completion of secondary education, students may write their Caribbean secondary education certificate examination. There are approximately 2,700 students who attend primary school for the first 7 years of their required education, however less than 1,800 students successfully finish the following 5 required years of secondary school and complete their certificate exam. Tertiary Education is by no means required in the British Virgin Islands. Students who chose to continue their education after Secondary Education may move on to an additional 2 years of schooling. After 2 years of Tertiary Education is completed, students may take their Caribbean advanced placement examinations. Passing the exams entitles students the right to continue their studies even further at the University of the Virgin Island. This University is the only tertiary education institution in the British Virgin Islands. At the University, students can obtain associate, bachelors, and masters degrees in the departments of business, education, liberal arts and social sciences, or science and mathematic.

Becoming Enrolled

Students have the opportunity to apply to any school of their choice due to the lack of zoning. A student must apply for placement for both private and public institutions through the Department of Education. Applications are accepted between January and April for the following school year. Many documents must be submitted along with an application.

Documents Needed for Enrollment:

child’s birth certificate
updated immunization form
passport photo
letter of good health
transcripts from previous institutions (if applicable)
parent’s passport
parent’s work permit OR government appointment letter
if attending a private school, an acceptance letter

Once documents are accepted and reviewed, prospective students may be asked to take a placement exam.

Homeschooling

Parents of student are required to submit an application to the Department of Education to achieve the right to homeschool their child. Student’s are still required to take and pass examinations. Curriculums for homeschooled children may be just as if not more demanding than the curriculums and educational institutions.

ICT Policies

The Department of Education in the British Virgin Islands is improving schools greatly by resolving maintenance issues and increasing access along with use of ICT in both public primary and secondary schools. Teachers are expected to gain ICT skills in college and university education. The DOE requires that all Public primary schools have at least 1 lab room consisting of at least 10 computers per lab. In addition, each school must have an ADSL Internet connection.

References

Gaible, Edmond. "Survey of ICT and Education in the Caribbean ." Info Dev. N.p., Feb. 2009. Web. 19 Oct. 2015. <https://www.infodev.org/infodev-files/resource/InfodevDocuments_597.pdf>.

Thomas, Emel. Education in the Commonwealth Caribbean and Netherlands Antilles. N.p.: A&C Black, 2014. 131-51. Web. 14 Oct. 2015. <https://books.google.com/books?id=NqlQAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA150&dq=Education+in+the+British+Virgin+Islands&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAWoVChMI9_G6loHCyAIVRhw-Ch09hwGh#v=onepage&q=British%20Virgin%20Islands&f=fal>.

Virgin Islands Department of Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2015. <http://www.vide.vi/>.

Education in North America

Sovereign states	Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Belize Canada Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago United States

Dependencies and other territories	Anguilla Aruba Bermuda Bonaire British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Curaçao Greenland Guadeloupe Martinique Montserrat Puerto Rico Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saba Sint Eustatius Sint Maarten Turks and Caicos Islands United States Virgin Islands

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