The figures for the year under review, and in some cases for previous
years, are preliminary.
The Government of Saint Lucia wishes to thank all the individuals and
institutions in both the public and private sectors (whether in Saint Lucia or
abroad), for their kind co-operation in supplying data or other information
for this Review.
Article 239 of the treaty of Chaguaramas requires member states to elaborate a protocol relating to government procurement. The Community Protocol on Public Procurement was approved by the Conference of Heads of Government at its 30th Inter- Sessional Meeting held in St. Kitts and Nevis in February 2019. Member states are now required to sign the declaration of provisional application. The Government of Saint Lucia has passed procurement legislation which is in harmony with the provisions of the CARICOM protocol hence there are no onerous requirements associated with adopting the provisions of this protocol. The public is invited to view the protocol and procurement stakeholders are to be advised of its provisions. Concerns and queries on this Protocol can be addressed to public.procurement@govt.lc
There is growing evidence to suggest the positive impact of arts education on vulnerable youth.
Research suggests that arts education provides an outlet for vulnerable youth to develop their
self-expression and improve their proficiency in communicating their dreams and fears. Art
activities promote self-esteem, self-confidence, and feelings of acceptance and success (King &
Schwabenlender, 1994, p. 8). Arts education also has the potential to meet a variety of
developmental needs for vulnerable youth. These developmental needs include intellectual
needs, physical needs, social needs, and emotional needs.
This paper sought to assess the returns to education in Saint Lucia. Having made significant public
investment in education through school plant underscored by the universal primary and secondary
education policy questions have emerged regarding the efficacy of this approach in the face of clear
evidence that many person are go to and through school without learning which obviously defeats the
purpose. Using the 2016 Survey of Living Conditions and the Household Budgetary Survey (SLC\HBS) we
estimate a Mincerian Wage Function for Saint Lucia. The results show that there are huge returns to one
additional year of schooling as well as one additional year of job experience. On that basis the paper suggest
that Government should increase the years of schooling in Saint Lucia beyond the mandatory 5 to 15 year
as per the Education Act, but the authors advocates that this increase should be in Early Childhood
Education.
According to the Saint Lucia’s 2016 Survey of Living Conditions and Households Budget,
annual Social Safety Net (SSN) spending average at 1.3 percent of GDP. Despite this
spending, Saint Lucia’s Poverty Head Count (Poverty Rates) for three consecutive Country
Poverty Assessment periods averaged at 26.3 percent. A number of deficiencies including
administration, financial, infrastructural, and lack of technological application have hindered
SSN system in Saint Lucia. A Granger Causality employing quarterly data from 2008 to 2019
supported that SSN spending concluded that SSN does not granger cause GDP however GDP
granger cause SSN spending up to a 2 year period. Global country cases are highlighted to
demonstrate how technology through the use of card based, mobile technology and biometric
platforms have reduced cost and enhance operational efficiencies of SSN systems.
Streamlining the SSN system and adopting global best practice can potentially enhance in
Saint Lucia SSN systems.