{"id":45077,"date":"2026-04-19T17:04:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T21:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/annsvg.com\/?p=45077"},"modified":"2026-04-19T17:04:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T21:04:17","slug":"antigua-pm-announces-free-university-education-ahead-of-april-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/annsvg.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/19\/antigua-pm-announces-free-university-education-ahead-of-april-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Antigua PM Announces Free University Education Ahead of April Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ST. JOHN\u2019S, Antigua &#8211; Prime Minister Gaston Browne has declared that university education in Antigua and Barbuda will be free of cost beginning September 2026, according to reports published by Antigua News and Antigua News Room.<\/p>\n<p>Browne made the announcement during an appearance on Pointe FM, stating that after discussions with the Financial Secretary, the government decided to commence free tertiary education at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Five Islands Campus this year, rather than waiting until after the planned expansion of the campus as originally promised.<\/p>\n<p>The announcement comes just days before Antigua and Barbuda\u2019s general elections on April 30, 2026, following the dissolution of Parliament on April 1. Browne\u2019s pledge is expected to dominate the campaign agenda, positioning education reform as a centerpiece of his government\u2019s vision for national development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ST. JOHN\u2019S, Antigua &#8211; Prime Minister Gaston Browne has declared that university education in Antigua and Barbuda will be free of cost beginning September 2026, according to reports published by Antigua News and Antigua News Room. Browne made the announcement during an appearance on Pointe FM, stating that after discussions with the Financial Secretary, the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":45078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-regional-and-international-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Antigua PM Announces Free University Education Ahead of April Elections - Asberth News Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/annsvg.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/19\/antigua-pm-announces-free-university-education-ahead-of-april-elections\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Antigua PM Announces Free University Education Ahead of April Elections - Asberth News Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ST. JOHN\u2019S, Antigua &#8211; Prime Minister Gaston Browne has declared that university education in Antigua and Barbuda will be free of cost beginning September 2026, according to reports published by Antigua News and Antigua News Room. Browne made the announcement during an appearance on Pointe FM, stating that after discussions with the Financial Secretary, the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/annsvg.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/19\/antigua-pm-announces-free-university-education-ahead-of-april-elections\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Asberth News Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/asbertnewsnetwork\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-19T21:04:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/annsvg.com\/the-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Gaston-Browne-.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1723\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"976\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Maurice John\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AsbertNews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AsbertNews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Maurice John\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/annsvg.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/19\\\/antigua-pm-announces-free-university-education-ahead-of-april-elections\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/annsvg.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/19\\\/antigua-pm-announces-free-university-education-ahead-of-april-elections\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Maurice John\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/annsvg.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/05927ad0b35f70c549c856744bc0b21a\"},\"headline\":\"Antigua PM Announces Free University Education Ahead of April Elections\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-19T21:04:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/annsvg.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/19\\\/antigua-pm-announces-free-university-education-ahead-of-april-elections\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":144,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/annsvg.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/annsvg.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/19\\\/antigua-pm-announces-free-university-education-ahead-of-april-elections\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/annsvg.com\\\/the-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Gaston-Browne-.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Regional\\\/International News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/annsvg.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/19\\\/antigua-pm-announces-free-university-education-ahead-of-april-elections\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/annsvg.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/19\\\/antigua-pm-announces-free-university-education-ahead-of-april-elections\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/annsvg.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/19\\\/antigua-pm-announces-free-university-education-ahead-of-april-elections\\\/\",\"name\":\"Antigua PM Announces Free University Education Ahead of April Elections - 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