Principal, Dr. Luz Longsworth
Anguilla has come in for high praise for its commitment to higher education. The commendation has come from the Pro Vice Chancellor and Principal of the University of the West Indies Open Campus, Dr. Luz Longsworth.
She was at the time addressing Anguillian media representatives at a press conference at the island’s UWI Open Campus during her inaugural visit on Tuesday, November 27. Her visit to Anguilla came towards the end of celebrations marking the 70th Anniversary of the University of the West Indies. Her visit also coincided with the 2018 graduation of 21 students at the UWI Open Campus, Anguilla.
“We are very, very happy with what is happening in Anguilla,” Dr. Longsworth told the media representatives. “My last figures showed that we have 211 students registered in the online programmes and we have a mass of students in our face-to-face Continuing Education.”
She continued: “When I did the calculations it showed me that by its population, Anguilla has the highest number of persons registered in UWI programmes in the Eastern Caribbean per capita (applause). I couldn’t sleep because I was so excited. That shows the commitment to higher education from your Government and from your people; and the recognition of what all of the reports tell us that a country will only grow through its link with higher education.
“The fact that when you have a country that focuses on training at all levels and at the higher level, that the ability to innovate and move the economic growth agenda forward is increased. This falls beautifully within the context of the University’s Triple A Vision, our Strategic Plan for 2017-2022. The strategy stands on three pillars.
“It is A for access – that the University’s role is to increase access to higher education at all levels; the other A is for alignment – that the University’s role is to ensure that all it does is in line with the productive sector and the goals of each country in terms of its economic and social transformation. The final A is agility which speaks to how we respond in a very quick and agile way to opportunities around the world.”
