Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Recent special needs graduates haven’t integrated well in society

Recent special needs graduates haven’t integrated well in society

Principal Vansittart Huggins of the Eslyn Henley Richiez Learning Centre (EHRLC) – a school for children with special needs – said she believes students who left the facility since 2017 were not properly integrated in the BVI community due to the school not having a designated building.

The school’s facility was destroyed in 2017 following the hurricanes Irma and Maria, and plans were set by the government to relocate the new school on the grounds of the Magistrates Court in a complete land swap.

Students from the school have since been temporarily relocated to the Althea Scatliffe Primary School and other schools across the territory until the new school building is completed.

Principal Huggins said the absence of the building meant there were several essential amenities the students had to do without.

“Right now because of our limited space, we just have everything shut up and it’s very frustrating for them because the chalk and talk just does not work. And sad to say, we are missing a generation of special education children because those who have left since 2017, I don’t think they are placed properly in society,” Huggins stated.

Missing key amenities play significant role


Principal Huggins said although the children get to interact with students from other schools under the current temporary relocation system, the amenities are not present due to the limited available rooms that are still a very critical aspect of the children’s development.

She said: “At first we welcomed the inclusion where the children were able to mingle and get that social aspect but special education is more than just the social aspect, we’re teaching them for life, we’re teaching them life skills.”

“The amenities that we have here are not conducive for our students to learn. For instance, we are in dire need of a kitchen, we have pots and pans, we have a little stove, but we need a kitchen. We teach our students kitchen skills because they need that for life, we teach them sewing skills, we teach them different aspects, computers and other things,” Huggins explained.

Works to commence on school soon


Education Minister Dr Natalio Wheatley said the plans for the school building were steadily progressing and are presently at the design phase.

According to the minister, the design for the school’s building is inspired by a special needs school in the United Kingdom that he would’ve had the opportunity of touring.

“Sister Lavina Liebert has a company who got those designs. In fact, I was fortunate enough to go to the United Kingdom and to meet one of the main consultants. Meeting with that design company, she designed a wonderful school in the United Kingdom — one of the best schools in the world for special educational needs and she gave me a personal tour of a school in the United Kingdom called Glenwood. And that was the consultant who worked with us,” Dr Wheatley stated.

He added: “Of course what we’re doing is on a much smaller scale than what they were doing at Glenwood but we use her expertise along with our local expertise in sister Lavina Liebert to be able to construct a beautiful design and we’re going to move from design to be able to mobilise the finances necessary.”

The minister said the project received financing through the Caribbean Development Bank and revealed that his government was working to secure further funds to allow for the construction of the school to commence.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×