CHARLOTTE AMALIE — Senator Alma Francis Heyliger said Tuesday she has submitted legislation to an amendment in a bill designed to clarify and strengthen Virgin Island’s vocational programs funded by the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (CTE).
Locally, the act — also known as the Perkins Grant — encourages partnerships between vocational-technical (vo-tech) programs and community stakeholders, local businesses and territorial industries to create work-based learning opportunities.
Senator Heyliger’s amendment — based on V.I. Code tit. 17 — explores CTE programs and their utilization to ensure exploitation and mismanagement of funding is further averted.
CTE programs have been the backbone of vocational education in the Virgin Islands and successfully assisted students in gaining technical and real-world experiences to prepare for high-demand, high-wage careers. Sen. Heyliger hopes to (1) revive a once-defunct board to help sustain its minimum number of appointees; (2) examine the realignment of CTE programs based on the needs of the Territory’s labor market; (3) support deliberate and meaningful collaborations between educational institutions and industries, and (4) increase student participation in experiential learning such as apprenticeships, mentorship and promotion of industry-recognized credentialing.
“Since 2006, when CTE was federally initially reauthorized and more so in 2018, when the 115th Congress amended that act, the economy in the U.S. Virgin Islands has become more depended on STEM-based occupations. Obviously, we’ve had (Hurricanes) Irma and Maria, along with COVID-19 during this time, so it is critical we address and ultimately create opportunities for the growing economy the Territory desperately needs,” said Sen. Heyliger after touring eight public schools throughout the Territory, speaking with respective educators and conducting needs assessments. “Perkins Grant upgrades are no longer an option and quite frankly, the Territory cannot afford to be negligent or settle when it comes to our future.”
Sen. Francis Heyliger welcomes her fellow colleagues of the 34th Legislature to support this legislation. According to a June 2020 report by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, 75 percent of two-year students enrolled in the nation’s occupational education programs during the 2015-16 academic year were enrolled in science, technology, engineering and mathematics curriculums. This trend has substantially grown in the Virgin Islands as residents displaced by Hurricanes Irma and Maria are urged to return and industries are welcomed to participate in the Territory’s economic resurgence and join organizations that currently fuel the Territory’s economy.