The Government of Antigua and Barbuda works with various stakeholders to elevate its educational standards to align with the demands of a rapidly evolving global landscape. A critical aspect of its Education Sector Plan for 2022-2027 is to improve student outcomes by encouraging more students to venture into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and strengthening teacher professional development.

At a recent meeting with Antigua and Barbuda’s Minister of Education, Sports and the Creative Industries, the Honourable Daryll S. Matthew, COL Education Specialist: Teacher Education, Dr Betty Ogange, discussed the partnerships with the Ministry of Education to build teacher and institutional capacity.

The Honourable Minister expressed appreciation for COL’s support of various institutions in the country over many years, including the Antigua State College and University of West Indies, Five Islands Campus (UWI-FIC) on mathematics education and other STEM subjects. The Minister commented, “Our focus on teacher development and the STEM summer camps is to get our children thinking critically. We need an education system that goes beyond merely preparing students for employment; instead, it should equip them to think critically and solve problems. This is what’s happening elsewhere, and we must not be left behind.”

Dr Ogange also met various faculty at Antigua State College, where COL is supporting the implementation of technology-enabled learning. She said the college has made remarkable progress, especially in establishing a state-of-the-art studio for producing high-quality educational content.

At UWI-FIC, Dr Ogange discussed an upcoming project on OER in mathematics education to train 500 teachers in the region by way of a massive open online course developed by COL. She remarked, “This initiative is a testament to the power of collaboration, integrating contextual components into global courses to promote access to open educational resources in mathematics.”

Image caption: (L-R) The Hon. Daryll S. Matthew, Minister of Education, Sports and the Creative Industries, Antigua and Barbuda, with Dr Betty Ogange, Education Specialist: Teacher Education COL.