Governor-General Chairs Session at Conference in Trinidad and Tobago

Governor-General His Excellency the Most Hon. Professor Kenneth O. Hall, ON, OJ has said that the changing paradigm of global development is opening up additional opportunities for community colleges to make a more significant impact on the education system in Caribbean territories.
He was giving the opening remarks for the session on “The Role of the Community College in the Caribbean High System” which he chaired yesterday (October 3) at the Eleventh Conference of Presidents and Governors General of the Caribbean Community.
The Conference is being held in Trinidad and Tobago from October 02 – 06.
The Governor-General said that while the link between education and development is well established, the pace and nature of development has changed. “Community colleges,” he said, “are in a position to offer a wider range of programmes that are relevant to the demands in the productive sector as well as those in the service sector and technical industry.”
Dr. Donald Peters, President of the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago (COSTAATT), who made the main presentation, expanded on this point by saying that community colleges “must provide leadership in offering programmes that prepare the population for jobs, and facilitate the development of Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) programmes.”
Dr. Peters also said that the development of these institutions throughout CARICOM is being encouraged to offer the average Caribbean citizen “an opportunity to acquire formal education and training to improve their quality of life through employment.”
This initiative is also being promoted because these institutions provide access to tertiary level education to those who did not achieve sufficient passes at the CXC or A’levels. Additionally, he states, the institutions “provide instruction for courses that can improve the community quality of life by bringing access to higher education to all parts of each Caribbean territory and not only in urban areas.”
Professor Hall will deliver the closing address at the Conference on Friday, October 06.
The theme of the Eleventh Annual Conference of Presidents and Governors General of the Caribbean Community is “Education and Development”. Sub-themes at the Conference include ‘Business Education and Development’, ‘Early Childhood Education and Development’, ‘Society – the Largest Classroom’, ‘Developmental Goals and Aims of Education’, and ‘Tertiary Education and Development in the Knowledge Economy of the 21st Century’.