Prime Minister Gaston Browne has announced a bold national education target: within the next 20 years, at least half of Antigua and Barbuda’s population will hold either an academic degree or a nationally recognised skills certificate.

Speaking on the 44th Independence Day, Mr Browne said the government is investing heavily in tertiary and post-secondary education to ensure young people are equipped for the opportunities of the modern economy.

The Prime Minister highlighted the $200 million expansion of the University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus, which will include new student dormitories, lecture halls, laboratories, and research facilities. He also noted the consolidation of post-secondary institutions under the Antigua and Barbuda College of Advanced Studies (ABCAS), aiming to provide upgraded curricula and internationally accredited faculty.

“Education is the passport to the future — and we are ensuring that every Antiguan and Barbudan holds it,” he said, stressing that knowledge is the truest inheritance of independence.