Dominicans encouraged to apply to UWI Five Islands Campus

Dominica is among six OECS countries that were recently exposed to the educational opportunities offered by the UWI’s recently established fifth campus.

Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, and Saint Lucia were also beneficiaries of courtesy calls, over a three-week period this month, from Interim Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the Five Islands Campus (FIC) of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Professor Stafford A. Griffith.

These OECS visits came at the end of a successful first semester for the campus which began its operations in Antigua and Barbuda in August 2019.  The tour included meetings with Heads of State, Education Officials, Permanent Secretaries and media stakeholders and aimed at familiarizing OECS nationals with the study disciplines and opportunities currently present at the newest UWI campus.

As the campus prepares for a new intake of students for the January 2020 semester, the country visits led by Professor Griffith highlighted the unique advantages of the Five Islands experience. Among them, the competitive and affordable tuition fees for its range of degree and certificate offerings available from three schools – Humanities and Education, Health and Behavioral Sciences and Management, Science and Technology. The commitment of the Government of Antigua and Barbuda to offer specific tuition scholarships for OECS nationals was another key talking point, ahead of the application deadline date of December 20, for entry into programmes for next January. Professor Griffith also discussed the plans for new programming offering in the coming cycle, in areas such as disaster and risk management, relevant to the OECS region, which has been most susceptible to the ravages of tropical storms and hurricanes in recent past.

Speaking on the outcome of the meetings, Professor Griffith said discussions with decision-makers including St. Vincent and the Grenadines prime minister, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, newly elected premier of Montserrat, Easton Taylor Farrell, St. Lucia’s Minister of Finance Guy Joseph and others, set a solid foundation from which to proceed.

With access to skill development and tertiary education now available at the OECS member country of Antigua and Barbuda, the nationals of these OECS states are in a prime position to see acceleration in opportunities and growth.

“The education provided at the Five Islands Campus will have a sharper focus on OECS issues.  Lectures, tutorials and required research will address issues relevant to the development of the OECS and graduates of this Campus will, therefore, be well prepared to engage the challenges of development in the Eastern Caribbean,” Professor Griffith added.

Full information on the UWI Five Islands Campus, the application process and scholarships, can be found at www.fiveislands.uwi.edu/apply.