PM Browne Backs Community Service Requirement for Students as Part of Education Reform

Prime Minister Gaston Browne has endorsed a proposal by University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus Principal Professor Justin Robinson to incorporate community service into the educational journey, arguing that students who benefit from publicly funded education should also contribute to national development.

Speaking on his weekly radio programme, Browne praised Robinson’s opinion piece on education funding, describing it as “very erudite, very apropos, and intellectually sound.”

“This is an article, I would say, that will be referenced for many more years to come,” Browne said, adding that Robinson had successfully captured both the educational and community dimensions of the issue.

Robinson proposed that community service become a normal part of student life, with students contributing through activities such as tutoring younger children, restoring community spaces, assisting at libraries and clinics, participating in youth programmes, and supporting environmental projects.

Browne said he was particularly impressed by the recommendation, noting that students could also play a role in maintaining public facilities while gaining valuable experience.

“If you take out the Potters Primary School, and you look at the secondary and post-secondary students that you have at ABICE and the secondary students at the Ottos Comprehensive School, you’re looking at an ecosystem of probably about 1,300 or 1,400 individuals. There is no reason why they cannot rotate and teach them how to clean the pools and so on,” he said.

The Prime Minister suggested that students could receive modest stipends for helping to maintain community facilities, reducing maintenance costs while teaching responsibility and providing income opportunities.

“You drive down the cost, they get a little stipend, after school they go, they clean the pool, and we would not have to incur all this cost and the facilities will be kept in a pristine way,” Browne said.

He extended the idea to schools, suggesting that older students could assist with maintenance projects during summer breaks.

“As far as I’m concerned, even within our school system, there’s no reason why during the summer period that we should not give them little jobs as senior students to go and paint the buildings,” he said. “They can do so in conjunction with professionals, but they too can earn a few dollars during the summer.”

Browne argued that providing students with opportunities to earn income and contribute to their communities could help keep young people engaged in productive activities and away from crime.

The proposal forms part of wider discussions about strengthening Antigua and Barbuda’s education system, with Browne supporting Robinson’s call for education funding to benefit the entire pipeline—from primary and secondary schools to the Antigua and Barbuda College of Advanced Studies and the UWI Five Islands Campus.

The Prime Minister’s comments came during a discussion on expanding the education tax to generate additional resources for the country’s educational institutions.

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