Increased interest in agricultural studies at BCC

The Barbados Community College (BCC) and Delaware State University (DSU) have formally established a partnership to increase options for local students interested in agricultural studies.

During Monday’s signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two institutions, Principal of the Barbados Community College Annette Alleyne said the partnership, which began with a pilot programme in which 60 Barbadian students were trained in agriculture and related sciences through the Delaware State University College of Agriculture Science and Technology after an initial meeting in March 2023, has been a great success so far.

She said: “The 60 students [initially] selected are now in their fourth semester of the programme, and I am quite pleased to state that there has been no attrition from the programme and that, from all reports, the students are generally performing very well.”

The BCC principal noted that given the rising challenges facing tertiary institutions, such as lack of funding, decreasing enrollment, partnerships with well-established universities in other jurisdictions should be a priority.

“Quality partnerships such as this collaboration with DSU represent a pathway to dealing with some of the current challenges facing the education sector at the tertiary level,” she said, noting that the DSU brings its accreditation status “to the table”.

“I have been assured that DSU  has a willingness to assist by mentoring the BCC in its accreditation journey. DSU is a progressive institution with a history of serving the community. They are renowned for their programmes in agriculture, mathematics, neuroscience, water resources, education and optics, and it possesses an outstanding model of student support services.”

Minister of Education Kay McConney also praised the partnership between BCC and DSU, and said the agreement has already led to a bump in students expressing interest in pursuing an Associate Degree in Agriculture at BCC.

“The benefits of this programme have already started to be felt…. Just the notion of it has excited some of our students here in Barbados,” she reported. “Traditionally, the registration for the agricultural programme hardly ever exceeded 20 people. However, in the last academic year, we received 41 applications. Twenty-nine students were accepted, and this represented the highest enrollment in an agricultural programme at Barbados Community College in the last decade.”

Meanwhile, president of Delaware State University Dr Tony Allen said it was incumbent on historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to form partnerships with learning institutions across the African diaspora.

“One of the reasons I wanted to make sure that we were doing international partnerships in a responsible way, is because I believe black institutions need to support black countries. We have had our challenges in doing that across the historically black college and university landscape, but I was not going to let that happen at Delaware State University,” he said. “The Caribbean is contiguous to us. So we should be here, we should be working for you, and I dare say, more other HBCUs should be here too. That is my promise, I will extend our partnership so people begin to see what it looks like when black people are standing up for other black people.”

(SB)