St Lucia moves to set rules for AI use in classrooms

Saint Lucia's government is drawing up a legal framework to govern how artificial intelligence is used in the country's schools, with the Education Minister insisting the technology should support learning rather than make pupils and teachers reliant on it. Kenson Casimir, Minister of Education, Youth Development, Sports and Digital Transformation, said the detailed plans will be presented to Cabinet shortly.

As reported by St. Lucia Times, Casimir was answering questions about the role of the Department of Digital Transformation in shaping how AI is deployed in education. He explained that work is under way on the department's rollout, covering testing, research, AI tools such as ChatGPT, and the legislation needed to define how the technology operates in schools. Danny Butcher serves as Minister in the Ministry of Education with responsibility for Digital Transformation.

Casimir was firm that AI is meant to add to the effort students put in, not replace it. From the ministry's perspective, he said, the technology exists to augment learning, not to leave people less productive and dependent on it. Curricula, classroom practice and teacher-to-student interventions should all frame AI as an additional tool, one that educates without encouraging laziness.

The changes matter beyond the classroom. Education sits at the heart of daily life on an island whose young people will one day staff the hotels in St Lucia, guide visitors along trails in the rainforest and run the businesses that keep the tourism economy moving. The school system follows the British model, with schooling compulsory from age five to fifteen and universal access at primary and secondary level, and adult literacy estimated at around ninety per cent.

Digital access is not spread evenly across the island, which adds a practical wrinkle to any technology rollout. The 2022 census found that 86.1 per cent of households in Gros Islet had internet access, against 59.7 per cent in Canaries, a reminder that digital learning can be uneven in rural communities. Casimir himself is the MP for Gros Islet, one of the districts where visitors booking holidays to St Lucia will find much of the island's accommodation and nightlife.

Teachers have already made their needs known. Casimir said that since becoming Education Minister in December 2025 he has received requests from teachers for devices supplied by the ministry, capable enough to help them handle AI in their day-to-day teaching. He acknowledged that AI brings what he called laziness that the ministry wants to guard against, and said discussions have taken place with the Ministry of Finance about funding such an intervention once money becomes available. The aim, he said, is for teachers to have that capacity at their fingertips.

Persuading young people to use AI responsibly will not be easy, the minister admitted. He said he hopes a combination of moral suasion, parental involvement and broader intervention across society can steer students towards the right habits, with the goal of appealing to young people to use AI in the correct way.

The story also carries a wider lesson for anyone travelling to the island with children, whether on family holidays in St Lucia or a longer stay combining school-age youngsters with beach time. Local pupils grow up speaking English in class and Kwéyòl at home and in the playground, a linguistic heritage that shapes the island's identity and is celebrated in its music, storytelling and festivals.

Casimir noted that concerns about AI reach well past education. He pointed to the capacity of the Cyber Division of the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force, saying it must be taken into consideration and given as much financial support as possible so it can work better. For an island whose economy leans heavily on tourism and services, online safety and digital confidence are increasingly part of the wider infrastructure that supports the economy of Saint Lucia.

The legal framework, including the laws governing the digital transformation department and its full functions, is expected to go before Cabinet soon, alongside the plan for rolling out digital transformation across the school estate. Until then, teachers will continue to work with the tools they have, while the ministry refines how AI fits into lessons without allowing it to do the learning for the pupils.

What happens next will be watched closely by parents, teachers and the tourism sector alike. A generation of Saint Lucians schooled in thoughtful, disciplined use of technology will be better placed to welcome the visitors who arrive on flights to St Lucia each week, whether they come for the beaches in St Lucia's south, diving on the reefs, or the cocoa estates and rum distilleries that tell the island's story.

For now, the ministry's message is simple: AI is a tool to be harnessed in Saint Lucian classrooms, not a shortcut. The minister's plans for legislation and teacher devices are the next test of whether that balance can be struck.