Permanent Secretary in the Department of Education, Innovation and Vocational Training, Ms. Michelle Charles, recently led Saint Lucia’s delegation to this year’s Community College Administrator’s Programme (CCAP) in Florida. 

The CCAP is a programme for officials with higher education planning responsibilities and administrators from post-secondary vocational and technical institutions. It is a US Department of State exchange initiative which consists of an Executive Dialogue and a Community College Seminar. Two key objectives of this programme are to encourage ongoing collaboration between participating countries and the U.S. counterparts involved in community college administration, and secondly to articulate the unique and important opportunities created through merging academic, business and management skills through the community college system. 

Other participants on Saint Lucia’s delegation included Principal of the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College Dr. Keith Nurse and his team, which included Quality Assurance Officer Ms. Celeste Regis; Mr. Brent St. Catherine, who is the Head of the Innovation Hub and Gateways Programme; Ms. Sharon Persad, Principal of the Post-secondary Programme; and Ms. Lydia Charlemagne, Student Affairs Coordinator at the Vieux Fort Comprehensive Secondary School. The delegation also included Ms. Delthia Naitram, an officer within the TVET Unit, who joined the team virtually.  Joining Saint Lucia on this exchange were delegates from Grenada and Suriname.  The exchange was conducted by the Florida State University and Sante Fe College.