TCI Education Minister exposes worrying trend   

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, March 17, 2022 – Less than 15 per cent of high school graduates in the Turks and Caicos are going on to college, revealed Minister of Education Rachel Taylor in the House of Assembly last Thursday (March 10). It is a trend that Taylor frets will keep Turks and Caicos Islanders at the bottom end of the earnings scale; unacceptable to the PNP Administration she said.

Taylor revealed the results of a rapid assessment done on the Class of 2020 and the results were distressing.

All 411 students who completed high school in 2020, 34 per cent or 120 students passed five or more or Passes in academic or technical vocational subjects.

This would have made those 120 students eligible to continue their studies in a tertiary institution in the TCI or overseas. Of the 120 however, only 49 students went on to college.

Bottom line, only 13 per cent of high schoolers in 2020 went onto get a degree and 87 per cent did not.

“If this trend continues it will be very difficult for the Turks and Caicos to achieve sustainable economic growth.”

Taylor acknowledged that policies in the Turks and Caicos regarding BOTC students and high tuition fees made higher education difficult to achieve for many.

“The draft Population Policy highlights that the government needs to provide continued access to tertiary education so that these groups of students can make a meaningful contribution to the country.” Taylor said

These findings fuelled the policy decision also announced on March 10, which now offers free tuition to all TCIs and BOTCs – any age – at the Turks and Caicos Islands Community College as of September 2022.