Grenada

Education is free and compulsory from ages 5 to 16. The majority of the population will at least complete a primary education. Grenada has both public schools and parochial schools, although there may be only one choice in rural areas. Classes are taught in English, and high school students also learn French and Spanish. Students in public schools wear uniforms. The educational environment has many of the same restraints common in poor rural areas as schools in other developing countries. Intentions are good, but classrooms are lacking in resources and trained teachers, and students are not given individualized or well-organized instructions.

Technology: In 1986, an American computer company, the Control Data Corporation (CDC), invited the government of Grenada and the Ministry of Education to install and assess the importance computers have on improving test scores and overall school achievement. Grenada, because of its limited educational budget, accepted the offer. The computers were set up in a small, rural Catholic School in Crochu. The school in Crochu was chosen because it is representative of many Caribbean schools, thus making the experiment transferable. Although the Ministry of Education could not offer long-term assistance for the project, it did pay for extra electricity, provided duty-free import status for the equipment, and lent its general support from the beginning. Difficulties in finances and resources occurred; however, the people from this small community worked diligently to maintain the computer facilities. The results were positive. By 1989, the effects of the computerassisted instruction (CAI) resulted in increased performance on the Common Entrance Exam, the exam required to advance to a secondary school. As of 1994, the CAI was still being used in Crochu.