The following is the press statement made by Minister of Education, Culture, Sports & Youth Affairs, Rhoda Arrindell, during the Council of Ministers Press Briefing held on Wednesday, May 18, 2011.
Madame Prime Minister,
Members of the Media,
Residents of our beloved St. Martin,
Good Morning.
In the past weeks, death has robbed us of several of our young people and a number of our older heads. Twelve-year old Sylvia Lynch had a very promising life ahead of her when she was killed in a gruesome traffic accident in Sucker Garden. I knew her personally and saw quite a lot of potential in her and had in fact begun the process of recruiting her into my volleyball team. I want to publicly express my heartfelt sympathy to her family, friends, and school mates. Whenever we lose a young one, I feel it is a loss for the whole St. Martin family to which we all belong. I know, however, that her death will not be in vain. May her soul rest in peace.
On a brighter note, I wish to report on my visit last week to the facilities of the Monroe College in St. Lucia and New York. I was accompanied on this official trip by my Policy Advisor, Mr. Calvin Mardembrough. It was a very successful visit which will soon result in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding or MOU with the institution that would allow St. Martin students to further their education there. In particular, recipients of Government study financing will be able to attend any of the campuses of Monroe College at a maximum cost of US$15,000.00 per annum and acquire a Bachelor’s degree in 36 months.
Monroe College holds the two highest accreditations available to any American college or university: the New York State Department of Higher Education accreditation and accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.
The St. Lucia campus of Monroe College offers degree courses in Public Health, Criminal Justice, Business Management, Hospitality management and Information Technology.
The St. Lucia Ministry of Education authorizes the College to grant degrees in St. Lucia. It was interesting to note that the St. Lucia Hospitality Association stands guarantor for the study loans offered to the students, which are paid back by the students after completion of their studies. By so doing, the graduates are also almost 100% guaranteed a job in their industry. Its Culinary and Hospitality program allows the students to spend a full semester of training/internship in Italy.
From St. Lucia, we headed to New York to visit the New Rochelle and Bronx campuses of the College. The New Rochelle campus consists of the following schools: Allied health professions, Business and Accounting, Criminal Justice, Hospitality Management, Education, and Nursing. It also offers Liberal Arts and Continuing Education programs, as well as Graduate programs and an Honors program.
We held discussions with top officials of the College, including its Executive Vice-President, Marc Jerome who had visited St. Martin in January. In two hectic but productive days, we were given a tour of the campuses and held meaningful discussions with the admissions staff, security and public safety chief, as well as with a group of students from several countries and particularly from the Caribbean. We met with the athletic director and coaches and discussed possibilities for our students as well as possibilities for our local coaches and athletes to follow courses there. Monroe College has an outstanding athletic program with a group of winning coaches.
The New Rochelle campus has 2,500 students, while the Bronx campus houses double that amount of students. The Bronx campus offers among others, degree programs in Nursing, Public Health, Criminal Justice and Forensic Science. There we met with Michele Rodney Esq. – Dean of the school of Criminal Justice. Ms. Rodney was a former prosecutor in the city of New York.
Monroe College has articulation agreements and 2 + 2 programs with educational institutes in the Caribbean such as Antigua.
It has a warm and friendly atmosphere while staff at every level is accessible to all students, with a real open door policy. We were most impressed by the quality of campus life and the attention and care students receive there.
At a meeting with the board of the University of St. Martin this week, I gave a synopsis of our visit to Monroe College and suggested the possibility of articulation with Monroe for 2+2 program and transfer opportunities for USM students as well as to begin discussions regarding running some of the Monroe programs locally e.g. Criminal Justice, Forensic Science and especially their Teacher Education Program.
It is also my intention to update Minister of Justice Roland Duncan immediately upon his return about the discussions held during this trip and continue to explore possibilities for this institution to assist with offering some of the much needed training and degree programs such as Forensic Science, through our own USM.
My meeting with the board of USM centered mainly on the institution’s Teacher Education Program. After a very open and frank discussion, it was agreed that and external evaluator would have to assess the program and verify that it meets the required standards for the granting of a Bachelor of Education degree, with emphasis on Foundation Based Education, FBE.
This evaluation will be conducted without delay, and depending on the outcome, which we expect to be positive, but if not, USM may have to offer additional courses to bring the Teacher Education Program (TEP) up to par with standards that would not only enable the graduates to be employed anywhere they choose to work, but also allow them to be admitted to post-graduate courses at any institution of higher learning.
My Ministry is committed to working with USM to ensure the quality of its programs and offer its students the very best perspectives possible so that they could graduate with the assurance that they would be able to enter the work force confidently or pursue post-graduate degrees anywhere in the world.
I must commend the board of the USM for their openness and willingness to steer the university in a new direction that would emphasize excellence and would be very relevant to the needs of the new St. Martin we are all dedicated to building.
Before concluding, I would like to introduce the new Head of Study Financing, Mr. Antonio Aventurin, whom we are delighted to welcome on board. He has taken immediate charge of the Study Financing division of the Ministry and has hit the ground running, so to speak, in view of the fact that recipients of Study Financing are expected to be announced by June 15th.
I look forward to any questions you may have for me.
I thank you.