On Friday, September 3rd, the Anguilla Community College, now at its own new location in The Farrington, held its first open day to showcase the various courses that it offers. For some 13 years, the Rogers Complex in George Hill was the familiar landmark for the local institution but, as of June 2021, operations commenced at The Farrington in the huge Government-owned building that was popularly known as The Shell Factory.
Mrs. Michal Romney is the Director of Humanities & Education at the College. She said: “Today we are running our ‘open day’ so that persons can come in to find out what we can do for them here at the Anguilla Community College. We have various offerings. First, we have the Sixth Form Programme. We also offer courses in Instruction, Business Studies, Information Technology, Creative Media, and Hospitality Studies. We offer quite a bit, especially to those young people who have just completed high school, and these include a wide range of short courses.”
Mrs. Romney noted that in her capacity as the Director of Humanities and Education, she is responsible for the Teacher Training Programme. She explained: “We run these programmes at various levels. These include: the Early Childhood, the Primary, as well as the Secondary Teacher Training Programme. That is the education side.”
“In the Humanities Section,” she indicated, “we offer Associate Degrees in General Studies. These are for persons who have just completed high school, and who might be interested in obtaining training in areas such as Psychology, Law, Criminal Justice, and other areas that are not generally served in the regular CAPE associated studies. Persons interested in these areas can register to do their first two years with us to acquire their Associate Degree — while they save money by being at home — then they can go abroad to finish up their more advanced studies.”
The Institute’s Director of Business Studies, Ms. Annishka White, provided a comprehensive description of the courses that are currently offered in her division: “We offer business courses for persons who are at different levels of the business organisation. We feature offerings from entry level courses all the way up to supervisory and management levels. So, indeed, we are encouraging persons with an interest in business to come in and sign up for a business course.”
Ms. White mentioned that all business courses that are offered are internationally accredited by Pearson Accreditation. Pearson is the UK’s largest awarding body whose vocational qualifications include Edexcel NVQ and BTEC from entry level to Higher National Diplomas.
She said: “All of our BTEC Certificates are recognised at universities worldwide. BTEC has partnered with many industries around the world. The latest BTEC partnership is with Chartered Management Institute (CMI).” “CMI,” she observed, “is an accrediting body in which managers around the world have been able to acquire membership.”
Ms. White listed the courses that are offered in the BTEC Programme: Customer Service, Finance, Management Accounting, HR Management, Management and Operations, Business Ethics, Leadership and Management, and Business Law. She noted that, over the years, many students have gravitated towards the study of Business Law as it gave them an opportunity to be exposed to the legal aspect of business.
Ms. Karimah Carty is the Chef de Partie/Trainer who teaches in the Hospitality Sector of the College. She introduced herself by saying: “I am a Lecturer in the BTEC Level II Programme for Hospitality & Culinary. Within this programme, we offer essential hospitality courses such as Hospitality Products and Services, Food Preparation and Presentation, Food & Beverage Serving, Menu Planning, and Food and Beverage Cost Control. We also run courses in Baking, and Pasta and Sushi Making.”
As regards the Food & Beverage Serving course, Ms. Carty pointed out that in case there are persons who are interested only in serving tables, as waiters or waitresses, this course is tailored directly to their needs as a stand-alone course of study. She observed that proper professional hospitality service is required in the hotel and restaurant industry, and that training in this area will give well-known waiters and waitresses a professional edge.
“The hospitality industry is our main industry,” said Ms. Carty, “and the Anguilla Community College wants to bring our people who are doing dining room service, at the various hotels and restaurants, up to an acceptable standard of professionalism. We therefore encourage our people to take advantage of the opportunity to be trained proficiently and to be certified servers.”
Ms. Carty of the Hospitality Division, along with Mrs. Romney of the Education and Humanities Division, and Ms. White of the Business Division, encouraged persons in the community who are interested in developing themselves educationally to tap into the offerings at the Anguilla Community College.
