UTT BUCCOO CAMPUS ON TARGET

This was revealed by chairman of UTT’s Board of Governors, Prof Kenneth Julien, during the official inauguration of the project on location at Battery Point, Buccoo, on Sunday. The campus and related facilities will be sited on eight acres of land in the Battery Point area.

Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary and Secretary of Education/Youth Affairs/Sport, Orville London, has described UTT’s Buccoo campus as "the most significant response" to the challenges of providing Tobagonians with access to relevant tertiary education in Tobago.

"This is an opportunity, and like any other opportunity, the test is going to be in how the opportunity is used and how it impacts on the people in the area and the island in general," London asserted, as he appealed to Tobago’s young people to maximise the benefit of the "gift" — as he termed the UTT Buccoo campus, to effectively prepare themselves for the future.

He warned that Tobago could not be "isolated or insulated" from the realities of the world, the ‘‘global village.’’

He observed that some people in Tobago were stuck in the "traditional" setting of education as it relates to the academics, while stressing that the information which was being used to determine areas of study five to seven years ago, was now "totally irrelevant" in the present scheme of things.

"The doctor/lawyer/teacher age is past!" he declared.

Meanwhile, London noted that Buccoo would become a ‘‘college community’’ within two to three years, and there was also a challenge for district residents to make use of the opportunities that would be offered in this regard, in terms of accommodation and the supply of other goods and services.