The vast achievements of the Barbados Community College (BCC), over the years, have not gone unnoticed by the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training (METVT).
This was alluded to by Education Minister, Kay McConney, as she delivered the feature address at the BCC’s 49th Graduation Ceremony, last Saturday, at the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex, Wildey, St. Michael, and recognised the work of the graduates and faculty at the institution.
Held under the theme: Living the Change: Navigating the Challenge, the ceremony was the first in-person one since 2019, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Minister McConney, who first acknowledged that the METVT was “working with renewed vigour to transform the educational system” through a new strategic plan, told those gathered that the BCC had been ahead of the Ministry’s own plan.
Commending the institution for its actions to modernise its campus, even before the new five-year Strategic Plan is in place, she said: “The BCC has already started to move this institution and the students who graduate from it into the future. An important goal is modernising and transforming the school system and our national curriculum, so that it is responsive, not only to national development needs, but also is aligned with local, regional and international best practices and standards…
The Education Minister then addressed the contents of the strategic plan, noting that it “lays out the path to achieving the Ministry’s mission to create a modernised, high quality and relevant education system that fulfils the diverse needs and interests of all learners and educators, of industrial partners, of societal stakeholders and that aligns with the country’s development goals”.
Adding that the plan contains 22 action points, Ms. McConney stressed the importance of students familiarising themselves with the document, not only because it is a strategic plan, but also because “the future of the emerging generation is wrapped up in it”.
To highlight this, she used the example of the BCC being forward looking. The Education Minister said: “Within the past few years, I am proud to say that BCC expanded its curriculum. It has launched a number of new courses designed to help equip participants with the tools to enter and thrive in any one of the many multibillion-dollar industries that are currently driving the world economy.”
Minister McConney praised the institution for launching courses, some this year, in robotics, coding, digital marketing, and digital storytelling. These, she stressed, demonstrated that the BCC understood and was committed to “future-proofing” its curriculum to stay relevant, and in the direction in which the world was heading.
Deeming the college, a “dynamic and progressive” institution, she highlighted its efforts at making education inclusive for those with disabilities, by retrofitting bathrooms and classrooms, and providing ramps, among other things,
“BCC recognises that more can be done to ensure that all are included and so efforts to accommodate those who are hearing impaired are being explored, with the possibility of having a sign language interpreter available for classes,” stressed Ms. McConney.
It was also revealed that the college’s Counselling and Placement Centre had come in for high praise elsewhere, over the last several years, for providing high quality, non-academic support services and tools for students.
Stating that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic the Centre had offered a number of programmes throughout the year that were in-person and had also moved to put a number of them online, the Education Minister stressed it was exciting for some students, their parents and others, as the Centre helped some with their mental health while there.
The 819 graduates were also lauded by the Minister, who said their success was “a phenomenal achievement”, given the challenges of the COVID-19 environment in which they were required to undertake their course of study.