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Grenada
by Paul Bacsich
For entities in Grenada see Category:Grenada
Grenada in a nutshell
Grenada is an island country and sovereign state consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. Grenada is located northwest of Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of Venezuela, and southwest of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
It has an estimated population of 110,000, with a size of 344 km².
Its capital is St George's.
The national bird of Grenada is the critically endangered Grenada Dove.
Grenada is divided into six parishes:
- Saint Andrew
- Saint David
- Saint George
- Saint John
- Saint Mark
- Saint Patrick
Carriacou and Petite Martinique, two of the Grenadines, have the status of dependency of Grenada.
The official language, English, is used in the government, but Grenadian Creole is considered the lingua franca of the island. French Patois (Antillean Creole) is still spoken by about 10%–20% the population.
Education in Grenada
Education in Grenada is free and compulsory between the ages of 6 and 14 years. In 1998, the gross primary enrollment rate was 125.5 percent, while the net primary enrollment rate was 97.5 percent.
Schools in Grenada
Despite the high enrollment rate, poverty, poor school facilities, and the periodic need to help with family farm harvests have resulted in approximately a 7 percent absenteeism rate among primary school children.
Higher Education
Despite its small population, Grenada has a well-known university. In 1976 St George' s University was founded as a School of Medicine. Since that time the University has added a School of Veterinary Medicine and School of Arts and Sciences which includes an internationally focused MBA programme. Today, nearly 8,000 doctors and more than 700 other SGU graduates have graduated and applied their education around the world.
The web site is at http://www.sgu.edu and the IT strategic plan is summarised at http://www.sgu.edu/computing-at-sgu/computing-policies-strategicplans.html
Virtual initiatives
e-learning
Virtual learning in Grenada seems to be provided by multinational organisations based abroad, such as ALISON
For OER policies and projects in Grenada see Grenada/OER