Considering their pivotal role, it benefits a country if teachers are aware of the impact of climate change.

Primary and secondary school teachers from the eight education districts on the island have been participating in a series of workshops for the revised 2010 Climate Change Teachers Toolkit.

The workshops form part of a public education and awareness strategy for the World Bank-funded Saint Lucia Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project (DVRP).

The project’s communications officer, Lucius Doxerie, said the workshops are necessary considering the impact of climate change on small island states like Saint Lucia, and that the inclusion of teachers is necessary considering their pivotal role.

“The participants have been animated, they believe the initiative is a timely one. So we have gathered information from teachers across the island, and the intention is to reproduce the document with current information. Some of the ideas that have been forthcoming is that the document should be electronic, it should be available online, and it should be formulated in an interactive way so that teachers and students can better understand and appreciate the contents of the document”

District education officers, and principals have also been participating in the 2010 Climate Change Teachers Tool Kit revision workshops.

The workshops began on May 22 in Soufriere targeting districts seven and eight, and moved to the Finance Administrative Centre in Castries on May 23 for districts three and four. On May 25, teachers of districts one and two converged in Vieux-Fort, while the final leg of the workshop series will be held on May 26 for teachers of districts five and six.

The first draft of the revised 2010 Climate Change Teachers Toolkit is expected to be ready by the end of 2017.