It is necessary to start improving post-secondary education on the Island, the new Bermuda College President announced.

Duranda Greene, the first female president of Bermuda College, announced her “vision” to improve the quality of education offered at the Island’s sole tertiary institute.

For the past few weeks she has been meeting with shareholders to gain support for this vision, which intends to make the college the “first choice for students, business and industry, when they seek further education or training”.

The vision aims to improve access and equity, the amount of comprehensive programmes offered and cater to the needs of the community, amongst other things.

During a speech to the Hamilton Rotary Club, Dr. Greene explained that community colleges were designed to reach a large amount of area residents. In order for Bermuda College to do this, Dr. Greene believes that it must work closely with the public school system to ensure that high school students are fully prepared to enter the college environment.

She said: “The results of the Education Review are cause for alarm but it is now time for us to stop talking about the problem and to begin to act and Bermuda College is ready to assist in improving our public education system.”

Dr. Green, a former student at the college, believes that access to higher education should be attainable for anyone willing to put in the time and effort.

“In an island as small as Bermuda, every individual is important to our economy and we cannot afford to lose even one.

“Economically a college education is important as the earning power of someone with a college education increases as much as 25 per cent over individuals with only a high school diploma,” she said.

Bermuda College also aims to cater to the needs of the local community, she said: “as its name infers a community college meets the needs of its community and this mission is especially critical to Bermuda College in that it is the only tertiary institute on the Island”.

Bermuda College offers programmes in areas such as business and education and is currently working with the Bermuda Hospitals Board to implement programmes in nursing. She said: “Where there is an employment need, Bermuda College should be the first place that industry and business turn to for answers. If we cannot do it ourselves, we can broker it with one of our overseas partners.”

According to Dr. Greene, there are several benefits to a community college rather than the universities abroad, including the level of commitment to teaching.

“Community colleges traditionally have smaller class size than do their four-year counterparts, and faculty members are more accessible to students through office hours and advising and in most cases you are not simply a number,” she said.

The Bermuda College is also planing to improve on the amount of services which train or re-train the workforce, and are working with the Bermuda Hospitals Board, Ministry of Education, Belco, Services, such as Police, Fire, Prison and Regiment and other Government Departments.

Dr. Greene revealed that Bermuda College is committed to life-long learning and has even partnered with the Senior Learning Centre, which saw close to 300 seniors enrolled in 31 classes last semester.

On average Bermuda College enrols 1,100 students, a majority of which are female, however, the aim is to get more males into the college, admitted Dr. Greene.

“We realise that we have some work to do this area and we are currently developing a marketing campaign that will be specifically targeted to males,” she said.

She told the Rotarians: “Bermuda College is ready to take its rightful place as the centre for intellectual, social and cultural activities on this Island.

“I would invite each and every one of you to join me in making Bermuda’s community college something that each of us can be proud of. A place where excellence is the hallmark of engaging, educating and empowering our students is our number one priority.