(EMU) – St. Kitts, September 07, 2016: Dr. Neva Pemberton has been appointed Chief of Education Planning in the Federal Ministry of Education, after competently serving the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) as Education Planner from January 2011 – August 2016.
Dr. Pemberton will be responsible for leading strategic planning efforts for the sector on both St. Kitts and Nevis and managing the Education Planning Division, which includes the departments charged with Project Management, Curriculum Development, Education Management Information Systems (EMIS), and Website Administration. She also will extend the scope of the Division to include research, evaluation, and policy coordination.
In her role as planner for the NIA, she was responsible for managing the annual planning and reporting processes for the Department of Education and supporting school leaders in the development, monitoring and evaluation of school improvement plans.
Dr. Pemberton, who assumed her new role on September 01, 2016, has a history of commitment and service to the Ministry of Education since 2012 when she was asked to conduct the first formative evaluation of the Saddlers Secondary School. Additionally, in 2014, Dr. Neva Pemberton was appointed as the National Coordinator for the UNESCO Education Sector Policy Review and has continued to date, to lead the Ministry of Education in the development of a medium-term Education Sector Plan.
Dr. Pemberton holds a Bachelors degree in Psychology from the George Washington University as well as a M.A. degree and PhD degree in Social Sciences and Comparative Education from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Her doctoral dissertation was an historical examination of curriculum reform in the Federation since the colonial period. Also, in 2015 Dr. Pemberton earned an Advanced Certificate in Education Sector Planning from the UNESCO International Institute of Education Sector Planning. She also serves as the Deputy Chairperson of the St. Kitts and Nevis Accreditation Board.
Besides her strategic planning expertise, Dr. Pemberton brings to her position a strong skill set in research and evaluation. She has worked as a research officer at UCLA and the Education Evaluation Centre at the University of West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados, and as a programme manager in the Evaluation Division of the HIV Vaccine Trial Network – the world’s largest publicly funded international collaboration focused on the development of vaccines to prevent HIV/AIDS.
Dr. Pemberton has also worked as a classroom teacher from the early childhood to the tertiary level in the United States and in adult education in Ethiopia.
The Ministry of Education extends its congratulations to Dr Pemberton and looks forward to the use of her leadership skills and experience in planning the way forward for education in the years ahead that will redound to the benefit of the Federation’s students and educators.