Dear ANR,
Antigua State College is a Waste of Time
I am very glad to see that there has been a sharp decrease in CAPE subjects pursued this year.
I hope the trend continues as more students pursue bachelors degrees at the University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus.
As a person who went through Antigua State College many years ago, I found the place to be dreary, depressing and unnecessarily restrictive.
To do Law, one had to have done History for CXC when in reality, one just needs competitive grades to matriculate into the UWI Law Programme.
If you chose to do a Social Sciences- oriented subject, you couldn’t do anything outside that discipline.
ASC has been making life unnecessarily hard for people for years and have outlived its usefulness.
Meanwhile, there are people who have CXC subjects who have successfully matriculated into US- based universities with higher ranking straight out of secondary school. So what’s the point of ASC if it’s not to waste people’s time?
I personally know of people who gained CAPE subjects or went to the business school at ASC, some at a mature age, who made their way back into the work world, only to find that they are at the bottom of the totem pole.
ASC tends to give people an edge in scraping the bottom of the barrel instead of seeing a meaningful change in career advancement and standard of living.
I say to parents if your child can matriculate part- time into UWI and do a little part- time job straight out of high school, you’re giving them a better opportunity of getting a jump start in life than going to ASC.
Trust me. It’s a waste of time and it’s time we accept that as we strive towards modernizing our educational system.
Just Saying
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Finally someone spoke out
The ANTIGUA STATE COLLEGE is not a waste of time.
There is a very important step to be covered between high school and university. It is called sixth form, or preparation for tertiary learning.
What has happened is that the college has been gutted to ensure Five Island Campus growth.
They are force ripping students by sending them right away to university just like picking pears too early. What happens is the pear head ripens and gets black and rotten while the rest of the pear is still not ripe and useless.
The importance of the State College will be felt in time. Hope it won’t be too late. Our experienced educators know that crippling the college is a lot of bull. But they are afraid to speak out.
Ever heard of FAFO? Keep messing with our education system.
The parking lot at UWI is horrible.
Paula lee get the government to pave the parking lot..
I was down there to pick up carnival costume.. omg.
Embarrassing 😳 🫣
CAPE is a whole level up from CSEC and doing CAPE lets you cake walk through your 1st year of UWI once the subjects you did for CAPE correlates with your courses. I cannot speak for the other departments because I’m an A Level graduate.
Secondly, your comment in a decline in students that pursuing CAPE subjects should be met with concern instead of glee. If there is a decline with the number of students doing CAPE, while there is an increase in students at the Harrison Center then the overall educational trend for our nation is heading in the right direction. However, if that’s not the case it shows that our nations youth may be neglecting education. Which will offset to not being qualified, which then leads them at a disadvantage in the already hard job market.
Thirdly, not every parent can send their child to a school in the US. So it won’t work for everyone.
Furthermore, the 2 years at State College is to grow holistically, not just academics. Children coming out of 5th need that maturity before they step out into the real world. State College in some ways prepares an individual for that.
Lastly, only people who went State College and wasted time will say that about the institution. What works for one may not work for all. Hotel training school would be a waste of time for someone who wants to do accounting or construction. So please don’t say the institution is a waste of time because you went there and didn’t make the most of it. Reading your article makes me think you are one of those individuals that a for making Maths and English optional for CSEC.
I do not think that this person’s assessment is completely up to date. The college has made several changes and really does have a function to play in the education process here in Antigua and Barbuda. I recently attended an open house and was very impressed with the programs being offered. There are many students who are not ready for university and the college gives a transition for many students.
The many persons who benefitted from the wonderful courses offered over the years world sharply disagree with you. Over the years the Antigua State College has turned out significant graduates in Accounting, International Business, Business Administration, Marketing, Human Resource Management, Engineering, Nursing , Advanced Level and more, long before ABICE and UWI Five Islands Campus was around. The educational system is quickly evolving but the Antigua State College is not obsolete or irrelevant by any state of imagination. God Bless Dr. Allister Francis and the early pioneers.
I think that this might be one person’s experience with ASC and not the consensus.
It was a stepping stone for me between high school and university and I think that that is what it should be looked be.
Having finished secondary school over 20 years ago, I went straight into college and then directly into a postgraduate degree, back when the typical path led straight from school to state college. Looking back, I didn’t need state college then, and I don’t see the need for it now either.
In today’s world ABICE and Gard Center make a whole lot more sense than state college.
The anti-ASC contributors comments seem more personal than factual. There are many options open to students that graduate from secondary schools each year. The ASC remains one of them. To bash ASC as a “waste of time ” is infantile, baseless and so disrespectful when one considers that not all our secondary school graduates have parents with deep pockets, so the highly accredited ASC is a very necessary, relevant, treasured local institution. Keep up the good work, ASC!
100% agree. Unless the Management and Administrators at the State College stop being so arrogant and stuck in the their ways of making matriculation unreasonably difficult, the institution will continue to see declining numbers.
The Principal of State College need to lead in a prudent way, and stop allowing those subordinate to her to frustrate soo many students and ruin the institutions brand.
Not sure what this commenter is referring to. Subjects at the college are easier than ever before, certainly easier than back in the days of taking Cambridge exams. However, these days everyone wants an “Associates Degree” instead of just a diploma so more subjects need to be taken by each student. Students can thus have a harder time adjusting to the work demands of a full Associates programme. So perhaps the leadership at the college could put measures in place to help students settle into the more rigourous work schedule more quickly such as provide facilities, books, technologies, comfortable study zones etc. that are readily available to beginning students so they can hit the ground running fast and hard. Lowering standards further would only hurt students in the future when they transition to the world of work or further studies elsewhere.
Former A-Level student here. The title is eye-catching and demands a read but the author risks alienating their audience with the overall derisive remarks. I agree that some of the content is covered in your first year of universtity so it can be perceived as a waste of time. On the other hand, many parents find it comforting (and cheaper) as others have said, to allow their children to experience higher education while giving them 2 additional years to mature before sending them off to a foreign country. It worked for me. Perhaps we can look into accreditation so you can get those 2 years, or something close off an equivalent university course…UWI maybe…but then that would strengthen the argument for just merging it into UWI.
Why are people always looking for a one size fits all solution for everyone else that matches their personal preference? Newsflash: There are billions of people on planet Earth and one hundred thousand different ones in Antigua/Barbuda alone. Each person has different DNA, talents, skills, upbringing, environment, opportunities, finances and future potential and can or needs to travel a different path to reach their full potential and achieve their life goals. Making suggestions or decisions on the education system without taking into account all of this variation is somewhat delusional. Obviously, many different options, including the ASC, are helpful in fully developing the human potential on the island.
The Antigua State College no longer exists. There is a new institution under new management that will take a look at the programmes being offered by all the major tertiary institutions and presumably ensure that multiple relevant options are available for personal and national development.
State college really need a mindset change. imagine inna 2025 intelligent students wit 9 or 10 cxc subjects not allowed to do Law cuz dey no have History cxc, or dem same children not allowed to do plenty course cause they doh hav maths cxc. And state college managers nah seee nothin wrong with dat? Dey jus ah mek it hard for de young smart youths to progress.
Guys I think we are all forgetting price and rational
Engineering $4900 for 2 years
Liberal Arts & Business is $4000 for 2 years
ASC does have its downsides but can’t we attribute these downsides to the fact it is a low-cost compared to other institutions? A way to get your foot in the door to the side of education is really right for you?
The person mention American universities that cost tens of thousands of US dollars and requires a Visa process which costs around if not more than a years tuition at ASC. They mentioned UWI that has higher requirements to get in as well as a higher price around $5,000 per year. This is said forgetting that most of the people who
State college do not have the chops right out of secondary school to pursue these other institutions and even if they did, these other institutions cost a significant amount more overall. Rather than having a simple degree to mayhaps, get you into the work world to decide whether or not you should continue pursuing education after you get a feel of things like a lot of people end up doing after going to to State college.
It’s called a prerequisite for a course. This happens in other institutions. It’s not ASC!!!
This person was one of those who lime all day, give minimum effort to academics and 120% to running after woman.
Even in the UK itself 6th form still exists and is a prerequisite for university. As others said it prepares you for the university experience.
I bet the writer is one of those who graduated with little to no subjects and now find THEMSELVES at the bottom of the barrel.
Those of us who took those 2 years seriously are faring far better.
The many Antiguans and Barbudans who have benefitted from the two years at ASC is evident in our workforce. Some were unable to attend college abroad yet they got the requisite training to prepare them for employment opportunities, many of whom have elevated to higher positions in the public and private sectors.
Quite a few of our elected members, including the current Prime Minister attended ASC.
This article flies in the face of the unwavering commitment and efforts made the competent teams who ran that institution.
I haven’t heard of a single person who regrets ever attending.
Some might have shifted their to another discipline as they sought a new path, but the substance and maturity they garnered from attending have not changed their minds about the institution.
Learning discipline and hard work were some of the objectives of the school.
I must admit that I wish that I had attended there right out of secondary school, instead of entering the workforce so prematurely. It was difficult to return to college when I migrated as the commitment to studying became more tedious.
I must agree that education has evolved and various forms of tertiary education are available to our people locally. Everyone will not be able to matriculate to university level without some sixth form intervention. It serves its purpose.