Barbados Community College

The Barbados Community College is a school for students who want to learn more after finishing high school. It is found on Eyrie Howells' Road in Saint Michael, Barbados. This college helps people study many different subjects and prepare for jobs or further learning. As a tertiary institution, it plays an important role in providing education opportunities for the people of Barbados.

History

The Barbados Community College started in 1968 because of a law passed by the government. This law aimed to make higher education easier for people in Barbados to access. Later, in 1990, the law was changed to allow the college to give out Bachelor’s degrees, Associate degrees, Diplomas, and Certificates. Before this change, people could only get degrees at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus.

Administration

The Barbados Community College is managed by a Board of Management, chosen by the Minister of Education. The Principal of the college reports to this Board.

Currently, the Principal is Dr. Ian Austin. He began his role in February 2016. Dr. Austin has studied at many schools and holds several important degrees. He also works with the University of the West Indies. The college is also supported by Deputy Principal Dr. Cheryl Weekes and Registrar Mr. Roger Worrell.

Academics

The Barbados Community College offers programs in many different subjects, such as commerce, computer studies, liberal arts, fine arts, natural sciences, health sciences, and more. In 2015–16, the college had over 3,000 students.

The college works with other universities, including Howard University, Florida International University, The Michener Institute, Mount Allison University, and the University of the West Indies. It also has agreements with universities like Duke University and the University of Winnipeg through Caricom.

University College of Barbados Proposal

In 2002, the government of Barbados announced plans to combine the Barbados Community College with the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic and the Erdiston Teachers' Training College to create the University College of Barbados. This was suggested because the three schools did not have enough space for all the students who wanted to attend. During the 2000–2001 school year, 13,282 people applied, but only 4,504 could be accepted.

A group was formed to work on this plan, including people from the Ministry of Education. Their plan said that combining the schools would help more people get education, update old buildings, and improve courses. At that time, the number of students and the budget for each school was recorded, as shown below:

The idea of merging these schools is similar to what happened in other West Indian countries. For example, Antigua State College was formed by combining a teachers' college and a community college. Dominica State College came from merging a sixth form college, a teachers' training college, and a nursing institute. The Sir Arthur Lewis Community College also includes a teachers' college. Unlike these schools, the Barbados Community College had not been formed by combining other schools before.

But after the 2008 election, the government changed. The plan to merge the schools was put aside, and instead, the focus shifted to sharing services among the three schools. The group working on the merger became the Higher Education Development Unit, which was tasked with creating shared resources like accounting, student information systems, libraries, and online learning.

GED Radio 106.1FM

The Barbados Community College has a radio station called Radio GED. This station helps students who are studying mass communication learn how to broadcast. It uses a small transmitter that can be heard within six miles. The radio station is run by students and plays a mix of talk shows and news from the college.

Students Guild

The Barbados Community College has a group called the Students' Guild Council. This group helps represent all the students at the college. The main members include a President, a vice-president, a second vice-president, an Ex-Officio Vice President, a Treasurer, and a Secretary. In the 2022/23 school year, these roles were filled by Joshua Harris, Kellia Baptiste, Shakalah Rock, Abi Tannis, Ashliy Grant, and Destinee Walthrus.

Every year, students elect new members for the Guild Council through a vote held at the college library. Besides the elected members, there are also some people chosen for special jobs like looking after student welfare, handling communications, organizing social activities, and other executive tasks.

Notable alumni

One well-known graduate of the Barbados Community College is Jeena Chatrani, who became a painter.