PRIME Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced that 500 teachers in Tobago will receive training in AI-supported lesson planning to create an inclusive and effective learning environment.

She made the announcement while speaking to pupils and teachers in Tobago on Tuesday at the Signal Hill Secondary School.

It is the prime minister’s first official visit to the island in her second tenure as prime minister.

She said every dream begins in a classroom and that is why her government was committed to strengthening Early Childhood Care Education (ECCE) centres and training teachers to ensure every child had support from the start.

“In primary schools, we want to modernise teaching through creativity and technology. Here in Tobago, it is our wish and hope to give 500 teachers who have been trained in AI supported lesson planning bringing innovation and inclusion in every classroom.”

Persad-Bissessar also listed out other plans to enhance education.

New partnerships are expected to be established between the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) and key national training institutions such as the Accreditation Council of Trinidad and Tobago (ACTT), the National Training Agency, the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT), the National Technical Institute for Training, the MIC Institute of Technology, the Youth Training and Employment Partnership Programme (YTEPP) and the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago (COSTAATT).

These programs will provide learning in agriculture, tourism, digital technology, renewable energy and emerging sectors, she said.

Additionally, Persad-Bissessar said her government plans to establish a National Enrichment Centre for Children with Special Needs in Tobago.

Accompanying Persad-Bissessar on her official visit to the island were several government ministers including Education Minister Dr Michael Dowlath and Minister of Public Administration and Artificial Intelligence Dominic Smith.

To the children, she told a part of her story.

 “I was a girl who walked barefoot to school on muddy roads but I was blessed with a mother, who believed education was the key to hope, that education was the passport out of poverty and that was the way to go.”

This conviction continues to guide her government’s vision for education, centered on opportunity, equality, and innovation Persad-Bissessar said.

She reminded that the laptop distribution programme will also be in effect starting this academic year for every Form One student under a digital learning initiative.

Persad-Bissessar advised, “I want you when you get your laptop Form Ones, listen, take good care of it. It will guide you through the rest of your school career.”

She encouraged pupils, emphasising that teachers as well as parents would be engaged in cybersecurity and digital use learning.

Persad-Bissessar was warmly greeted especially by the children, some of whom received toys and other tokens from her afterwards.

The prime minister was also presented with a portrait of herself by the pupils of Signal Hill Secondary School as a token of appreciation.