| Education System in Antigua and Barbuda |
Education in the tiny Caribbean Islands of Antigua and Barbuda is free and compulsory for all children there between ages 5 and 16. Even transport, school infrastructure and class materials are accounted for under a levy of basic wages. Primary education starts at age 5 and lasts for 7 years.
Less than half of primary school pupils remain when they enroll at secondary school where they will study for 5 years with a favorable student-teacher rate of 13:1. The state curriculum remains academic throughout without any vocational alternative.
Vocational training in these islands is under control of the national training agency that is responsible for setting and maintaining national standards. The Antigua State College delivers courses in office management, home management, agriculture, electronics and refrigeration among others.
There are three small colleges in Antigua and Barbuda. The University of Health Sciences that trains medical practitioners is not widely recognized beyond the islands. The University of the West Indies School of Continuing Studies offers adult training as mentioned previously, while the University of the West Indies maintains an extramural department in Antigua.
Unfortunately many tertiary students study elsewhere in the Americas, and of the better ones, few return. The picture here is of a local school as we could not find one of the extramural facility.
