Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

New focus on cultural education in BVI

New focus on cultural education in BVI

A restructuring of the Department of Culture has seen a new focus being placed on cultural education in the Virgin Islands.
The Culture Minister Dr Natalio Wheatley said the Cultural Education Unit in the department has been playing a massive role in the ministry’s push to have Virgin Islands history and culture becoming a staple in the local school curriculum at the three levels — primary, secondary and tertiary.

“We’ve gone through a restructure in the department. There was not a Cultural Education Unit before. Now we have more of a specific focus of the culture department in various areas. So, we have a Literary Arts Officer; we want to have a Performing Arts Officer, a Cultural Heritage Officer and we want a Visual Arts Officer and of course a Cultural Education Officer,” Wheatley said.

“When we get more people, we can form a unit. But many of these posts did not exist in the cultural department. We’ve placed specific focus on these areas and they are tasked with making these things happen and we are starting to see the fruits of their labour,” the Culture Minister added.

Wheatley also noted the Department of Culture had put together a Cultural Education Committee which has curriculum officers from the Ministry of Education. It also has people from Virgin Islands Heritage, Virgin Islands Study Institute and other stakeholders including the Chief Education Officer, Connie George. The Education Minister said this partnership should result in more local history in the local school curriculum.

“We are working with the Curriculum Unit now and those are the types of issues they are going to be working on, but definitely we want our local history and culture to play a more prominent role on the curriculum,” Wheatley said.

He noted the committee is having an ongoing dialogue on how and when to insert books on Virgin Islands history in the school curriculum and he is currently waiting on its recommendation before his ministry take the next step.

The Virgin Islands government has taken several steps over the last few years to develop BVI culture and history in the territory. Last year, the government implemented the BVI Culture and Tourism Month which is celebrated every November.

The month is focused heavily on highlighting Virgin Islands culture and spreading awareness across the territory. The month includes activities such as a performing arts showcase, a literary arts festival, several workshops on BVI culture and history and it concludes with the Anegada Lobster Festival.

This year, the government has implemented two new holidays to commemorate the Virgin Islands history — Heroes and Forefather’s Day used to celebrate key historical Virgin Islands figures, and the 1949 Great March and Restoration Day. The latter is used to commemorate the march of 1949 which led to the restoration of the Virgin Islands’ legislative council.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×