SIR STANISLAUS JAMES

GCSL, GCMG, OBE

Governor-General

1988 – 1996

Sir Stanislaus James was born in the town of Soufriere on November 13th, 1919. He acquired his early education in Soufriere and proceeded to the St. Mary’s College from 1934 to 1939. He received the Cambridge Senior Certificate upon his graduation. He spent a school term at the St. Aloysius R.C. Boys’ school as a temporary teacher, after which he left for Trinidad in 1940 to pursue his studies at the Training College for Teachers. In December 1941, he successfully completed his training and was awarded the Trained Teacher’s Certificate. In January 1942, he was appointed a Trained Assistant Teacher on the staff of the Soufriere Boys’ Primary School. In June 1944, he was appointed supervising teacher for the in – service training of unqualified teachers, the first supervising teacher for the training of unqualified teachers. He traveled by horse to the rural schools and by canoe to the coastal villages of Canaries and Anse-la-Raye.

In 1945, Sir Stanislaus James was transferred to the Education Department in Castries as head of a small number of supervising teachers.

1n 1946, after studying through correspondence, he was successful in obtaining the Diploma of Associate of the College of Preceptors (ACP) London, the first St. Lucian to obtain a Diploma in Education.

Sir Stanislaus stands out as one of the key architects in the development of St. Lucia. It is he who was responsible for conceptualizing and implementing youth development and community programs and projects which saw the establishment of youth clubs, sports and community centers and playing fields island wide. Over the years, his work as Head of the Departments dealing with probation, social welfare, community development, public relations and poor relief has laid the foundation and structure for activities which are today the shared responsibility of the Department of Human Services and the Ministry of Legal Affairs.

He also played a major role in the establishment of the National Provident Fund Scheme, which is the precursor to the social security program of the National Insurance Scheme. So indispensable were his services that in 1974 he was brought out of retirement by the Government to establish a framework for disaster preparedness in St. Lucia and was responsible for the designing of our first comprehensive National Disaster Plan.

In 1988 Sir James was appointed to act as Governor-General. In 1992 he was appointed Governor-General, a position he held until 31 May 1996.