A church in St. Vincent and the Grenadines has started building a private primary school whose curriculum will be guided by biblical teaching and discipline.
Dexter Kirby, senior pastor of Grace Community Baptist Church, at Kingstown Park, told iWitness News that the school is expected to cost EC$1.4 million and will be built in phases.
He said the church is hoping to open the classrooms at Grace Christian Academy to the first students by September 2028.
Kirby said the church already has a preschool, which it hopes will channel students into the primary school, which will have one classroom each from kindergarten to grade 6.
He said that the 30 students enrolled at the pre-school are children of members of the church and the public.
The pastor said that construction of the school will be financed “by the giving of God’s people.
“We believe the worshippers of God should really carry on the work of God,” he said, adding that the church will also receive help from other Christian organisations and churches overseas.
“And, hopefully, Christians here in St. Vincent as well,” Kirby said, adding that Grace Community Baptist Church understands that they are embarking on a huge task that they cannot undertake on their own.
“… we’re gonna build a school in phases,” he said, adding that the contractor had informed the church that it would take six months to construct the shell.
“And then we’re going to have work teams, mission teams, come down from places like the US and help us with the finishing, which will take a little while.
The school, however, will have its own curriculum.
“Now, we understand we can’t go rogue, but we will be using a hybrid, a Christian curriculum. It’s called Abeka, that’s put out by a Christian school in the States.”
Kirby, however, said he is not sold on any one curriculum, adding, “I don’t want to over promise at this point, but we do know that we don’t want the government to hand deliver us a curriculum, let’s put it that way, and say, ‘Hey, teach that.’
“… because it’s, in the end, a private Christian school. It’s a primary school, teaching maths, English, science and so on. But at the same time, we do have Christian curriculum out there — because the key is we would integrate God and his word in all of the subjects…” Kirby told iWitness News.
“It’s not just knowledge we’re after. But character development, and you can’t get that without a good dose of some spirituality, the word of God and so on.”
Kirby said alternative Christian education is necessary in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“… after witnessing the biblical illiteracy, the moral decay and the lack of academic excellence plaguing our nation’s children, we believe that it is absolutely essential that the church arise and we take — we assist the government, the state, but more so, we assist the home.
“… we are losing our children. The forces of evil are seeking to destroy our nation’s youth. So, at this point, to do nothing is not an option. So, we realise that Christian education is the way to go. That way, they can be developed holistically, both spiritually, socially and academically.”