The Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) is continuing to make education a major pillar of the agenda of its administration.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne announced an initiative yesterday that will result in more citizens being able to access higher education.
During the launch of his party’s 2023 manifesto at the John E. St. Luce Finance and Conference Centre, Browne touted his administration’s success in making the University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus a reality.
The university now serves as an affordable option for many citizens and residents seeking a university education.
Addressing an attentive audience, the prime minister said his administration intends to go further by ensuring that there is a university graduate in every household in Antigua and Barbuda within the next seven years.
“We share in the great pride of all the people of Antigua and Barbuda that our country has a university at last. The Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party wants to satisfy the ambition of every family to have at least one university graduate by 2030. Therefore, it is important for those who are not qualified to seize the opportunity to become qualified because by 2030, we expect at least one graduate per household,” the prime minister remarked.
In anticipation of the influx of students at the UWI FIC who will serve to boost the country’s human resource capacity, the government has taken steps to expand the institution through a US$80 million loan that is being facilitated by the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
A formal signing ceremony signalling the completion of the loan agreement is set to take place between the government, the University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus and representatives of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is scheduled for next week.
“Next Tuesday, we will host a signing ceremony and we’re inviting all of you to that ceremony at about 10am. It will be a momentous occasion that we’d like to share with all of you.
“That money assures the continued physical build out and equipping of the campus, as well as its capacity to educate our people to a higher level. “Additionally, to help our people to achieve the highest level of education and knowledge, the ABLP administration invested $240 million over the last eight years in scholarship grants. It is a programme the ABLP will continue and expand in the future,” Prime Minister Browne assured.
