During a recent guest appearance on the popular Browne and Browne broadcast talk show, Antigua and Barbuda’s education minister Matthew raised a pressing unaddressed trend he has observed across local graduating cohorts: a steady, concerning drop in young men’s engagement with post-secondary further education. Without referencing formal gender-disaggregated enrolment or completion datasets in his public remarks, Matthew framed the trend as a critical systemic gap requiring targeted, urgent policy intervention, noting “We’re losing our young men, that is an area where we need intervention.” His comments emerged as part of a broader panel discussion covering interconnected social challenges including rising youth violence, gaps in family support frameworks, and equitable access to learning pathways for marginalized youth. To tackle both the underrepresentation of male learners and the national shortage of qualified trade professionals, Matthew laid out a suite of new targeted investments and partnerships centered on expanding technical and vocational education and training (TVET). A core pillar of this strategy is scaled funding for the Harrison Centre, a local trades training hub that delivers certification programs for high-demand fields including plumbing, masonry, carpentry, electrical installation, and automotive mechanics. Matthew emphasized that these hands-on, practical skill sets will insulate local workers from widespread labor market disruption driven by advancing artificial intelligence and automation, which are projected to displace large shares of traditional white-collar and routine administrative roles in the coming decade. The dual purpose of this expanded TVET push, he explained, is to re-engage disaffected young men who have historically opted out of academic further education, while simultaneously building a domestic talent pipeline to fill critical skilled labor gaps across the national economy. “We are conducting a full cross-sector review of every segment of our national education system to identify how we can not only cultivate a workforce of highly trained professionals to drive national development, but also bring more boys into the fold of sustained learning, whether that takes the form of technical vocational training or more traditional academic pathways,” Matthew stated. He also revealed that the government is finalizing a formal public-private partnership with a leading regional construction firm, which will deliver annual dedicated grant funding to expand trades training capacity at the Antigua and Barbuda College of Advanced Studies. As of the broadcast a final contract for the partnership was in the final stages of review, with signatures expected imminently. Responding directly to a live caller on the show who advocated for greater public recognition of vocational careers as high-value, respected professional paths, Matthew confirmed that education authorities are also exploring a full rebranding of the Harrison Centre, to more clearly communicate its specialized technical mandate and dismantle longstanding public perceptions that frame trade training as a “second-tier” educational option.
More support needed to keep young men in education in Antigua and Barbuda, Matthew says
