Given the difficult history of a tiny and once woefully neglected Caribbean island and backwater like Anguilla, its continued upward mobility, and the resilience of Anguillians to succeed against all odds, must of necessity capture the admiration of all and sundry.
Ever so often there are emerging examples of an island and people lifting up themselves by their own bootstraps, to use a common phrase, and attaining a measure of pride in creating and achieving a niche for themselves in an awfully competitive, if not hostile, world environment. One such example is the first graduation in tertiary level education on the island on Wednesday this week – a milestone for the Anguilla Community College in awarding Associate Degrees in just a few short years of its existence.
For many years, Anguilla suffered from a lack of home-based tertiary education and was forced, at increasingly great expense to Government, the island and families, to send its brilliant students overseas for higher education. Thus, for too long, The Valley Secondary School of the 1950s to the middle of the 1980s, and the restyled Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School have been the highest education institutions in Anguilla.
It is only when the University of the West Indies, through the extension services of its Extra Mural Department, Adult Education Programme, and now the Open Campus, that some strides in tertiary education were made in Anguilla. But to make a mark on its own creativity and ambition, there was a need for Anguilla to work towards developing a system and facility to provide further education for its own students. It was in fact one of the premier accomplishments Anguilla had to demonstrate, in order to be deemed on par in the education sector with most, if not all, of the other Caribbean islands where Community Colleges and Universities had become the order of the day.
And so, the establishment of the former Anguilla College Development Unit by the Anguilla Government, probably just over ten years ago, was a step and, indeed, a springboard, in the right direction. It was also a matter for commendation for persons like Mrs Dawn Reid, and those who worked closely with her, in laying the groundwork for what we have today as the Anguilla Community College. Further, it is a commendation for senior officials in the Ministry of Education for their involvement and support; and Professor Delroy Louden, the first President, who, with the assistance of the Board of Governors and the Faculty, steered the development of the College, and established the important “linkages and collaborations” with a number of overseas educational institutions.
There is also a need to congratulate the various students of the Community College for taking the initiative and opportunity to further educate themselves – and for achieving Associate Degrees, Certificates and Diplomas in several fields.
The work of the College and its attraction to an increasing number of students must be roundly applauded. Wednesday’s historic graduation and all the successes leading up to that event are a combined achievement for much pride in Anguilla. One can only hope that the Anguilla Community College, now working towards the building of its own campus, will continue to develop and offer an even higher and more desirable level of tertiary education on the island as an integral part of national and sustainable development.
