THA launches adult education, training programme

FIFTEEN community impact centres will be established across the island as the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Division of Education, Research and Technology embarks on its latest initiative.

The Community Impact Programme, unveiled on May 19 at the Shaw Park Complex, dares to re-imagine how education can serve the Tobago’s people, according to the division’s secretary, Zorisha Hackett.

Hackett said the programme was a transformative education initiative rooted in a commitment to social development. The free programme, she said, is designed to provide adults with access to quality education and skills-development opportunities. The goal, she said, is to remove barriers to learning and create inclusive spaces where individuals can thrive, regardless of age, background, or circumstance.

Speaking on Tobago's current workforce, Hackett said 12 per cent had attained only a primary level of education, 60 per cent had attained a secondary education, and just 28 per cent had gone on to attain tertiary-level education.

“This is our wake-up call," She said.

"A wake-up call that the way forward must not only be paved with roads and infrastructure, but with access – real deliberate meaningful access to education, training and empowerment.”

Delivered in safe, inclusive, and community-based environments, she said the programme aimed to strengthen academic foundations through CXC and literacy courses; promote skill-building for employment and entrepreneurship; encourage personal and professional development; and foster a culture of continuous learning across Tobago.

Hackett said the programme was the division’s two-year commitment rooted in research, grounded in service and driven by the idea of a Tobago in which no adult or child would be left behind.

She said it was not just another programme launch, “It is us actually drawing a line in the sand.

"It is a declaration that as a people, we would not accept the status quo. It is a rallying cry that every Tobagonian regardless of age, background or past circumstances, and that is important, deserves an access to the transformative power of education.”

Classes in the programme are conducted by qualified facilitators and aligned with national development goals and open to adults seeking to complete or improve their academic qualifications; adults interested in developing life skills, technical abilities, or business knowledge; as well as adults motivated to learn in a supportive and community-focused setting.

“This programme is not a handout, it’s definitely what I would like to call a hand up," Hackett said.

"It is a $3 million investment in our people. An investment that covers devices, our tutors, our supervisors even janitors, classroom supplies, WiFi access and, of course, security.

"It is an investment that prioritises functionality over form, impact over image and, of course, people before politics.”

The division’s administrator Cherry-Ann Edwards-Louis commended the initiative, noting that it was only in 2024 CSEC released some very disturbing statistics that one in every three students who sat the mathematics exam failed it, and one in every four students failed English.

“Although Tobago’s pass rate is slightly better than that of the regional average, the trend is definitely heading in the wrong direction.

"The number of students struggling in math and English is growing and that should be of concern to every single one of us, but the problem continues.”