Education
More New Campuses for the TCI Community College says Education Minister Rachel Taylor
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, December 7, 2022 – North, South and Middle Caicos college-aged students will soon have the opportunity to access courses at the Turks and Caicos Islands Community College without coming to Provo with the establishment of a new satellite campus by 2023.
The announcement was made by Rachel Taylor, Minister of Education in a recent town hall meeting in North Caicos in response to a resident who was concerned about fair access to free education for all students.
“Myself along with a few other indigenous twin islanders inquire as to whether online courses will be available for us because I refuse to pack up and relocate to the expensive Providenciales or Grand Turk to get a college education,”
The resident said she was confused as to why online services were not implemented with the rollout of free Community College for all islanders as virtual learning had been done without any issue during the pandemic.
“The President and her team will be in North Caicos before the end of the semester, which will be within the next few weeks. What we’re doing for the island of North Caicos as well as South and Middle is to introduce a satellite campus,” Taylor promised.
The campuses will be at the Raymond Gardiner High School in North Caicos and Marjorie Basden High School in South Caicos. In addition to those physical satellite campuses, students will be able to work online.
“Persons who would not want to attend the satellite facility, we want to ensure that they have the opportunity to carry out their courses online.”
The major key to the program, Taylor says, is good internet capabilities which can be difficult for the twin islands. The minister revealed that the government had been having discussions about the twin islands’ connectivity.
“We are definitely going to introduce the courses— very, very soon, you will see them being offered” she promised, “as early as next semester.”