The H Lavity Stoutt Community College is poised to begin offering four-year bachelor’s degree programmes, as part of a wider transformation of tertiary education in the Virgin Islands, Education Minister Sharie deCastro has announced.
The minister made that announcement while speaking on the Talking Points radio programme on February 9.
“The exciting thing that we want to announce is that I gave HLSCC a mandate to pursue four-year granting degree status to be able to give a bachelor’s in education starting, and then we’ll venture out into other areas,” deCastro stated.
She added that the college’s leadership is working closely with the ministry to bring the plan to fruition.
“We’re very hopeful that within the next 12 months, and that’s putting it mildly, that we should be able to be in a position where we are able to grant bachelor’s degrees in education,” deCastro said.
According to the minister, the proposed programme will not be a generic degree but one tailored to the territory’s education reform agenda.
“We’re not going to just develop a standard education — a bachelor’s degree. We’re working intentionally that what we want to see in our classrooms, that programme, the pedagogy, the skills that are inherently going to be created, the classes, everything, is going to speak to what we mean when we say full steam ahead,” she explained.
Dormitories to be built
DeCastro said the college’s Institute of Education is expected to become “a centre of excellence”, attracting students from across the region. To support that regional demand, the ministry has also provided funding for the design of dormitories at the college.
“The ministry would have given HLSCC some funding to develop designs for dormitories,” she said, noting that the designs are expected this year with a view to construction thereafter.
The minister underscored the institution’s existing strengths, pointing to its international accreditation and seamless transfer pathways.
She described the move as a continuation of the college’s founding vision and part of a broader strategy to build local capacity.
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