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Charlotte Amalie
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesUVI and Government Unite to Ramp Up Science and Technology

UVI and Government Unite to Ramp Up Science and Technology

UVI President David Hall and Gov. John deJongh Jr. talk science.Gov. John P. deJongh and University of the Virgin Islands President David Hall believe science and technology can provide the basis for creating a better quality of life in the Virgin Islands while diversifying the territory’s economic opportunities.

At a press conference Friday at UVI, Hall called on the community to
“step up” and be part of the planning and development process to take the Virgin Islands into the world of a science- and technology-based economy.

“We can find our own niche,” Hall said. The results of branching out will be better than minimum wage jobs and a better quality of life.

UVI, through the Virgin Islands Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (VI-EPSCoR), will provide scientific expertise to help the Virgin Islands government spur economic development, Hall said.

But both Hall and deJongh were clear, the vision of science and technology providing a significant revenue stream would not materialize without the support of the community through town hall meetings, surveys and focus groups.

Having a workforce based in technology has to be the “new norm,” deJongh said. That will only happen if “we can foster the same enthusiasm for science as they [youth] have for basketball.”

To that end, deJongh will appoint a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) director for the Department of Education who will be charged with developing curriculum and educational opportunities for teachers that will nurture an interest in science in the earlier grades.

Hall even suggested the interest could be stimulated in early childhood education venues.

Nick Drayton, VI-EPSCoR director who provided brief remarks at the press conference, said afterwards the university has a masters degree program in mathematics that is free to any public school secondary education teacher in the territory who wants to pursue advanced studies in the field. Drayton said the program has graduated numerous teachers who are now heads of the math departments at their schools.

In keeping with Hall’s remarks about early childhood education, Drayton said one idea might be to offer a certificate program in advanced math for elementary teachers.

DeJongh enumerated all the initiatives currently in place to support the advancement of technology and science in the territory including the V.I. Research and Technology Park and the Green Technology Center at UVI.

In November 2011, deJongh signed an executive order forming a Science and Technology Council made up of public and private partners. The council is directed to develop a science and technology plan as required by the National Science Foundation in order to continuing funding for VIEPSCoR. The council has met once, he said. But Friday’s call to “step up” is expected to be the beginning of many more meetings and activities in the larger community.

“We can be better; we have to challenge ourselves,” deJongh said.

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