Construction work began this week on the new Harrison Centre for Social Mobility in Antigua and Barbuda.
The moment was marked with a breaking ground ceremony, held at the site of what will become the Harrison Centre Antigua and Barbuda Institute of Continuing Education.
Among those attending were Governor General Sir Rodney Williams, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister, Honourable Gaston Browne, Education Minister, Honourable Daryll Matthew and Daniel Harrison, trustee of the Harrison Foundation.
Also attending were many of the current Antigua and Barbuda Institute of Continuing Education students, who will be among the first people to use the new Harrison Centre once it opens in early 2023.
The Harrison Centre Antigua and Barbuda will be the first overseas Harrison Centre, complementing four existing projects in the UK, the first of which was created in Sunderland in 2018.
Since then, thousands of people aged 13 – 19 years old, have improved their education and employability prospects at Harrison Centres in Sunderland, Newcastle, Darlington and online through the Open University.
Speaking at the breaking ground ceremony in Antigua this week Harrison Foundation trustee Daniel Harrison said:
“The Harrison Centre Antigua and Barbuda Institute of Continuing Education is going to be a fantastic learning facility that will benefit people in communities for many years to come. I also think it’s a statement of the ambition that Antigua and Barbuda has got for investing in its people to help them reach their full potential.
“The Harrison Foundation has invested in many similar centres in the United Kingdom and the results there are having a real impact on people’s life chances and employability prospects.
“I’m delighted that the Harrison Foundation’s first overseas Centre will be here in Antigua and Barbuda. I know a lot of work has already gone in to getting us to this stage so I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone involved. I’m really looking forward to seeing the transformation of this site over the coming months.”
Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister, Honourable Gaston Browne, added:
“I’m delighted to mark the historic ground-breaking of the expanded Harrison Centre Antigua and Barbuda Institute of Continuing Education where we are taking vocational and technical education to the next level. The vision is to transform Antigua and Barbuda into an economic powerhouse in the Caribbean and I want to thank David Harrison for his enduring contribution that will help to take Antigua and Barbuda to the next stage of its development.”