ST. KITTS AND NEVIS LOOKS TO ATTRACT ADDITIONAL INTERNATIONALLY ACCREDITED TERTIARY LEVEL INSTITUTIONS

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, December 4, 2018 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis is targeting tertiary-level education to play a key role in the expansion plan for the Federation’s economy going forward, says Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris.

“We are open to welcoming more schools of learning, more participants in the purveying of quality education in St. Kitts and Nevis,” Prime Minister Harris said, while delivering remarks during a November 29 breakfast meeting hosted by Adtalem Global Education Inc, the parent company of Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine (RUSVM).

RUSVM has been based in St. Kitts since 1983. Since then, it has graduated roughly 5,000 veterinarians who work around the world.

Dr. Harris added, “We have had a long experience and we have learnt quite a lot about the support mechanisms that are required if we are to competently deal with the issues that arise from the purveying of quality education in our beloved Federation.”

In this regard, Prime Minister Harris commended Ross University for “pioneering in this arena, and for the longevity associated with its stay with us over 35 years and counting.”

“It has been a very beneficial experience on both sides,” Dr. Harris noted. “Ross has stood here because the people of St. Kitts and Nevis, from day one, stood beside and provided support to the investment of Ross in St. Kitts and Nevis. Ross has expanded its engagement in St. Kitts and Nevis and has overtime became more of a model of a corporate personality with a social conscience.”

In July 2018, Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine expanded its research footprint in St. Kitts and Nevis by opening a US$10.5 million-dollar Biosafety Level 2 (BSL-2) Research and Pathology building.

It was noted by the President of Adtalem Global Education Medical and Healthcare Vertical, Ms. Kathy Boden Holland that Ross University has provided over $3.1 million in scholarships to nationals of St. Kitts and Nevis since 2014.

According to the Prime Minister, St. Kitts and Nevis currently boasts a foreign student base of close to 5,000 people across Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, Windsor University School of Medicine, the International University of the Health Sciences (IUHS), the Medical University of the Americas in Nevis, the University of Medicine and Health Sciences, among other institutions.