The Tribune

The Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) will today hold a virtual graduation ceremony for its 2020 class.

Dr Raveenia Roberts-Hanna, BAMSI’s executive director and college head, said: “While the day will not be the same as our ceremony in Andros, we worked very hard to capture the essence and the spirit of our on-campus ceremony onto a virtual platform.”

The 2020 ceremony marks the fifth graduation BAMSI has held. This year, there are 13 graduates who come from islands across the archipelago. Nine of the graduating class are marine science majors, the largest number to graduate to date. The other degree holders come from the agriculture, aquaculture and environmental science programmes.

“We are, of course, excited to be a part of this academic chapter in the student’s lives in preparing them for this moment so they can go forth and bring the necessary change that is needed in The Bahamas,” Dr Hanna said.

Michael Pintard, minister of agriculture and marine resources, will be the keynote speaker for the ceremony. Presenting the degrees will be BAMSI chairman, Stephen Turnquest.

Beyond the graduation, BAMSI said it is also ramping-up for the upcoming semester aided by the government’s free tuition grant. “We are grateful for the government’s continued support of BAMSI through its free tertiary grant, which means that academically qualified students who have financial challenges are now afforded the opportunity for free tuition, so we are anticipating that many high school graduates and others will take advantage of the opportunity,” Dr Hanna said.

Student registration is still ongoing as BAMSI’s admissions team continue to work with all relevant stakeholders. “We do understand that we are working in a COVID-19 environment, so we want to make their transition to the campus as seamless as possible. We are ready to welcome them to the next chapter of their lives,” Dr Hanna said.

During the upcoming semester, BAMSI will add five new courses to its programme offering, several of which go beyond the scope of agriculture and farming, and will enable the Institute to cater to a wider audience.

“We do have a cross-section of programmes, business management, art and the environment, animal science, general agriculture and agronomy,” Dr Hanna said. For graduates, BAMSI has also forged close relationships with international tertiary institutions to make it easy for students to transition to the bachelor’s degree level once they have completed their programme.