Two Antigua and Barbuda Trades and Labour Union (AT&LU) shop stewards who completed Continuing Professional Education courses through the union’s scholarship programme are urging fellow members to apply, as the union prepares to draw the names of 10 successful applicants for its current cycle on Wednesday.

The draw, scheduled to take place live on ABS Television on Wednesday, 13 May 2026, will determine the recipients of 10 scholarships for Continuing Professional Education (CPE) courses at the University of the West Indies Global Campus Antigua and Barbuda.

The application window, which opened on 24 April, closed yesterday.

Among those who have completed courses under the programme is Vilonique Chalmers, shop steward for the West Indies Oil Company Friar’s Hill Service Station, formerly known as Larry’s.

Chalmers said she used her sponsorship to complete a Project Management course at the UWI Global Campus.

“It was something new to me, but I challenged it and got through successfully,” Chalmers said.

She added that she wanted to “take this time to show my appreciation” to the union for the sponsorship she received.

“I encourage everyone out there to take that leap of faith and try one of these courses that they are offering,” she said.

The second recipient, Monet Beazer, shop steward for the Ministry of Education, said she won the AT&LU scholarship twice and used it to complete short courses in Supervisory Management and Effective Management and Leadership at the UWI Open Campus.

Beazer, who was born in Barbuda, said her path to further education had been long.

She told how she attended Holy Trinity School but dropped out after becoming pregnant at 18, citing the social stigma attached to teenage pregnancy at the time.

“I had my 1st child at the age of 18, and in those days, society look down at you with dismay,” Beazer said.

She said she had wanted to return to the classroom but found it difficult to do so while raising children and working.

After her third child, while working as a crossing guard and cleaner, Beazer said she asked the Ministry of Education whether she could enroll in the day programme at the Antigua and Barbuda Institute of Continuing Education (ABICE) but was told there were not enough crossing guards available to release her, and that she would have to try evening classes instead.

She said she enrolled in evening classes two days a week, taking her youngest child with her, and studied mathematics and English.

She said the AT&LU scholarships followed those classes.

“These courses have open me up for greater opportunities in the work force,” Beazer said of the union-funded programmes she later completed.

Beazer said she wanted to encourage members of all ages to apply.

“I am here to encourage the young, middle age and even elders to do a course of their choice,” she said.

“Learning never stops, so take advantage of any opportunity that comes before you. I DID IT AND SO CAN YOU!”

She also thanked the union directly.

“Let me take this opportunity to thank the AT&LU for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime, I am forever grateful to this institution,” Beazer said.

According to the union’s published criteria, applicants must have been members of the AT&LU for over two years and must have the necessary prerequisites required by UWI Global Campus.

Interested members were required to email the union stating the course they wished to pursue.

The union said that it “remains steadfast and true to our mission of empowering our membership through educational opportunities,” and that the 10 scholarships on offer would cover CPE courses at the UWI Global Campus in Antigua and Barbuda.

The names of the 10 successful applicants will be announced during Wednesday’s live broadcast on ABS Television.