Bertrand Joseph

Bertrand Joseph, MP
Minister of Education, Sports & Youth Affairs
MP for St. Mary's North

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Phone: 561-1858

St. Mary’s North

Bertrand Lemuel Joseph was born on the 29th September 1958 in Jennings of parents who were steeped in Seventh Day Adventism and were leading lights in the local congregation.

Bertrand rose to positions of leadership in the church serving as elder, Sabbath schoolteacher, secretary and superintendent.

He completed his primary education at the Cedar Hall and Jennings School, then onto the Jennings Secondary School where he was chosen to represent his school in the Top of the Form Radio/Television Programme. He also served as editor of the school’s newspaper, The Emphatic Voice, and also the Chronicle which superseded it.

After receiving passes in Mathematics, Geography, Biology, History, English Language and English Literature, he joined the staff of the Jennings Secondary School where he taught Mathematics and Geography before migrating to the USA. In 1981 he pursued studies in Government and Politics at the Marymount Manhattan College. He subsequently transferred to the Herbert H. Lehman College of the City University of New York from which he graduated in 1985 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.

In New York he paid his way through college by completing such jobs as Stock Clerk, Security Guard, and Peer Tutor at the Writing Lab of Lehman College.

In 1986 he began working on a Masters degree in Social Studies Education at Herbert H. Lehman College. At the same time he entered into employment with the Board of Education of the City of New York at Theodore Roosevelt High School having obtained a certificate to teach Social Studies. The following year he returned to Antigua and was employed by the Christ the King High School as a Mathematics and Caribbean History teacher.

Between 1987 and 1989 he spearheaded the political campaign of his former Headmaster the Hon. Charlesworth Samuel in the constituency of St. Mary’s North and wrote several feature articles and guest editorials for the opposition party newspaper, The Rapport.

In the summer of 1989 he returned to New York and commenced studies at Herbert H. Lehman College on a Masters degree in American History with a focus on diplomatic and intellectual history. He graduated from that programme in 1991 and entered a doctoral program in diplomatic and intellectual program at the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York. During that period he worked for New York City Board of Education teaching Global Studies and Advanced Placement American History at Walton High School and later Global Studies at Herbert H. Lehman High School.

In 1992 he returned home and enter the political arena. Although not successful in the general elections of 1994 and 1999, he was nonetheless able to significantly increase the party’s standing. He was appointed Senator in 1994 and reappointed in 1999. He was elected as Assistant General Secretary of the United Progressive Party (UPP) in 1995 and served in that position until 2001. Thereafter, he was elected to the position of General Secretary, a position he currently holds. Additionally, he has been serving as a Board Member of the Seventh Day Adventist Credit Union since 2000.

In 1994 he married Debbie Jeffers who is a nurse by profession and they are the proud parents of a daughter, Ariana.

In 2003 he was appointed the UPP spokesperson on education, and after his election to Parliament on 23rd March 2004, was appointed as Minister of Education, Human Development and Culture. In 2005 and 2007 respectively, the Ministry’s, and by extension the Minister’s portfolio was amended to the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Education, Sports & Youth Affairsrespectively.

In May 2008, the Hon. Bertrand Joseph received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Lehman College at its annual Commencement Ceremony.

Getting the Job Done for St. Mary’s North

Bertrand Joseph is an accomplished, open and accessible Parliamentary Representative. Immediately after the elections in 2004, he opened a constituency office to serve the people. He is in office almost every Thursday between 8 am to 2 pm to meet with constituents and address their concerns.

These are some of Joseph’s accomplishments in his constituency:

• Collaborated with the Minister of Sports to fence the Jennings playing field, and construct Multi-Purpose Community Centres in Bendals and Cashew Hill.
• Established a Community Computer Access Center at Jennings to educate constituents in Information Technology.
• Fenced the Bendals Playfield.
• Started a School Meals Centre at Jennings Primary School and Bendals Junior Secondary School to provide the students with nutritious, low cost meals.
• Improved education and opportunity through Enhancement classes for Grade Six students in the Constituency to prepare them for the Common Entrance Examination.
• Threw an Annual Christmas party for all the children in the St. Mary’s North Constituency [2005- Jennings, 2006 – Whenner Road, and in 2007 – Bendals].
• Improved landscaping at Jennings Secondary School.
• Provided uniforms for the Slippery Rock football team and uniforms and balls for various other sports teams.
• Started the Boxing Day Soccerrama for the six football teams in the Constituency. The event features trophies and prizes valued at over $1,350.00.
• Procured street lights to improve the lighting in the Constituency.
• Provided paint for the painting of the Jennings Community Clinic.