Deandrea Hamilton
Editor
Turks and Caicos, May 23, 2025 – The Turks and Caicos Islands Government is ushering in a new era of education, driven by innovation and digital transformation. During the 2025/26 budget debate, Education and Youth Minister Rachel Taylor unveiled a bold suite of initiatives focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR), and Financial Literacy—poised to reshape how students learn and prepare for the future.
Central to this transformation is a strategic partnership between the Turks and Caicos Islands Community College and global leader EON Reality. The collaboration brings a $6.7 million investment in immersive learning, including a $6.55 million software grant and over $216,000 from the TCI Government. Beginning in September 2025, students will train in hyper-realistic virtual environments across key sectors like maritime, hospitality, and construction—practicing emergency drills, operating machinery, and simulating real-world workplace scenarios.
“VR and AR are revolutionizing how we teach and how our students absorb information,” said Minister Taylor. Citing Stanford University research that shows students retain 75% more information through VR, she emphasized the need for education to mirror the fast-paced demands of the 21st-century workforce.
Equally forward-thinking is the Ministry’s new financial literacy programme. In a collaboration with WizdomCRM Caribbean Limited, 1,000 secondary school students will gain free access to two cutting-edge platforms: the Sustainable Stock Market Game and the Eagle Eye AI Tutor. The initiative, launching in the first term of the upcoming academic year, will run for six months at no cost to students or government, empowering young people with skills in investing, money management, and AI-assisted learning.
Turks and Caicos becomes the fifth Caribbean nation to benefit from the programme, following Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad. “We are building a digitally literate generation, equipped not just with devices but with the knowledge and confidence to thrive in a tech-driven economy,” Minister Taylor stated.
Complementing these innovations, the Ministry has also mapped every public school under the GIGA project—a UNICEF-ITU initiative to boost equitable internet access. With improved connectivity and 565 new laptops scheduled for distribution, TCI students will soon experience a modernised, more connected classroom.
From immersive training to AI tutoring, the government is signaling that the future of learning in the Turks and Caicos Islands is not just near—it’s already begun.