As the need for better qualified persons in the public and private sectors of Anguilla increases, a considerable amount of interest has been shown in new opportunities for higher education being introduced on the island.

The main section of attendees at the CMD meeting

On Tuesday this week, just over 40 Anguillians including other residents, turned up at the Teachers’ Resource Centre for information relating to the Executive Masters in Business Administration (EMBA) degree. It is a two-year programme of studies being offered by the Barbados-based Centre for Management Development (CMD) of the University of the West Indies.

A number of Anguillians have already graduated from the programme. They include the first graduate, Director of Social Security, Timothy Hodge, who successfully completed the degree programme in 1998, Maglan Richardson, Assistant Director and Corporate Secretary with the Social Security Board, and Sandra York-Gumbs, Administrative Services Manager at the Department of Infrastructure.

Two other students, Kenneth Hodge, Director of Information and Broadcasting, and Ethne Richardson-Hodge, a Teacher at the ALH Comprehensive School, are currently doing the degree programme in Public Sector Management.

CMD Graduate, Timothy Hodge, along with Joanne Hodge, Audit Manager at the National Bank of Anguilla (who will be enrolling in the EMBA programme in September), have been largely responsible for organising the information meeting. It was conducted by Sonia Layne, the CMD Programme Manager in Barbados.

L-R: Mrs. Joanne Hodge, Timothy Hodge and Sonia Layne

She gave a comprehensive overview of the educational opportunities being made available to regional students by the CMD. According to her, the highly-recognised EMBA is intended for experienced executives who want to develop themselves academically. Is a two-year highly participative and intensive programme with eight residential modules. The programme places strong emphasis on group learning, teamwork and skill development. It aims at equipping graduates with the competencies to meet the challenges of business in today’s environment.

The EMBA is intended to develop a set of world class leaders in the Caribbean who possess the skills that would ensure their ability to be effective. These skills include critical thinking, effective decision-making and methodologies, entrepreneurial spirit and vision and the ability to translate creative ideas into concrete reality.
The entry qualifications are graduates of an approved university or candidates who, in the opinion of the University of the West Indies, have an equivalent professional qualification; candidates who have at least five years’ relevant management experience; candidates who are senior managers or are headed for senior management and can commit themselves to a rigorous and flexible two-year programme for their personal development as managers; and Permanent Secretaries, deputies or Heads of Departments and other organisations in the public and private sectors.

The current objective is to have a facility in place for the studies to be done in Anguilla as in the case of Antigua and Belize.

The cost of the studies, which are presently tenable in Barbados, amounts to US$16,500 over the two years and is payable in installments. This cost is likely to be less if the programme could be taught in Anguilla by local lecturers.

A number of persons filled out application forms during the meeting and others will be submitting their completed forms within the coming days.

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