The Barbados Institute of Management and Productivity (BIMAP) has been challenged by Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Ronald Jones, to move to the level of a university.

The Minister threw out this suggestion to Executive Director, Dr. Sonia Greenidge-Franklyn; Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Benson Straker; and the BIMAP team, as he addressed their graduation ceremony last Saturday night at the Hilton Barbados Resort.??

He noted that the 43-year-old institution had done ???the possible with the impossible??? and, given its great work, could consider transitioning to a university.

Alluding to the night???s theme: Enhancing Learning: Transcending Borders, the Education Minister said: ???Think about it. ???I want you to look even beyond our borders as part of a national project where we???re moving our institutions, particularly tertiary level institutions, into what I call the international space??? I want BIMAP to be part and parcel of that journey for Barbados.

???There is a massive amount of foreign exchange to be earned, employment to be created as a result of reaching out into the spaces, and bring them to our shores or by hybrid learning modality. Think about it. Work through it. Say what you need and, how you want industry and Government and business to step up a bit more to the plate. And, work on your strengths and then work outward, transcend the borders of what you currently do??? and widen your horizons.???

Former senior civil servant, diplomat and retired member of the BIMAP Board of Trustees, Ruall Harris, said he was thinking along the same lines and noted that BIMAP had progressed since he joined in 2000, expanding beyond Barbados to the CARICOM region. And, he praised BIMAP???s quick response to the needs of the Nigerians students earlier this year.

The evening saw a range of awards being handed out to students who excelled in their field of study. Most Outstanding student was Obadele Forde, who received the Scotiabank Herbert N. Casson Efficiency Award. President of the Senate, Senator Kerryann Ifill, was also among the students with disabilities who received certificates for completing a course in Microsoft Excel. Senator Ifill gained a distinction.

joy-ann.gill@barbados.gov.bb

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