History

Regent College of the Caribbean

Regent College of the Caribbean, formerly Jamaica Bible College dates back to the year 1945, when it was first established as Jamaica Bible School. The institution was the outcome of a vision to establish an institute in central Jamaica for the training of Christian workers for the Evangelical Church.  The visionaries, Messers Arthur Lord, Oscar Lord and Ernest Clark, donated seventeen acres of prime property in the hillside town of Mandeville, and in partnership with the West Indies Mission, a North American based mission’s organization, the school began its work for the Kingdom of God.

In 1965 the school’s name was changed to Jamaica Bible College, and the work continued, as students were trained as evangelists, pastors, and missionaries for service in Jamaica, the Caribbean, and as far away as Asia.  Students not only from Jamaica, but from the wider Caribbean applied and were admitted. Many returned to their homelands, while others went into missions in other lands.

By the year 1976, the school could boast of having successfully prepared an appreciable number of men and women for ministry. Although at that time the original founders believed their season to be over, the College continued under the auspices and support of the major local evangelical denominations in Jamaica. 

The Community Institute was developed in 1978 with a view to serving a wider cross-section of the immediate community with the introduction of a Secretarial department. This served to meet the growing need in central Manchester and the adjoining parishes for administrative workers.   The College partnered with the bauxite companies – the then, Alcan and ALPART – to provide secretarial and computer training to a significant number of students who have since made tremendous contributions to both the private and public sectors. From the mid1980s to early 2000s the College provided training in the vocational areas – welding, auto mechanics and woodwork – in partnership with the Master Builders Association. Adults and school leavers in the 1990s, who wanted to upgrade themselves also had the opportunity to prepare for external examinations such as GCE (the General Certificate in Education, the London based Cambridge examinations), and CXC, (the Caribbean based examinations) at the College. These provided them with the opportunity to enter the job market or to matriculate into various tertiary programmes.   Subsequent to this development, the College was operating as Jamaica Bible College and Community Institute; however, the name was not officially changed.

At the turn of the century the need for quality training at the tertiary level heightened. Therefore, the College reviewed and expanded its programme offerings. In 1997 the Certificate in Secretarial Science which was being offered, was replaced by the Diploma in Business Studies.  In 2006 the Diploma in Business Studies programme was again reviewed and upgraded to an Associate Degree in Business Studies.  The College continued to prepare students for external examinations through its Pre-College department, thus giving them the opportunity to meet the matriculation requirements for the College programmes. In 2008 the College increased its programme offerings to include a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theology with a Minor in Business Management, Bachelor of Arts in Theology with a Minor in Counselling, Certificate in Business Studies and Certificate in General Studies.  

The College also aligned itself with various quality assurance agencies such as the University Council of Jamaica (UCJ), the Caribbean Evangelical Theological Association (CETA), and the Caribbean Area Network for Quality Assurance. By 2010 the College obtained from UCJ accreditation for its Diploma in Theology and its Associate Degree in Business Studies programmes.

Between September 2007 and July 2014, the College partnered with the Ministry of Education to provide high school spaces for students first under the ROSE programme and later the GNAT programme as part of its outreach to the community. During this partnership, the College formed and operated the Brumalia High School. (The high school closed in 2014 when the partnership ended).  During this period, the College also deepened its partnership with HEART Trust/NTA and has become one of the main trainers for the NCTVET assessments for both the Early Childhood Certificate (levels I and II) and Early Childhood Diploma (level III) in Manchester. (In September 2017, the College added the Diploma (level III) in Allied Health Geriatric to its programme offerings).

Given the transformation that the institution was undergoing, the stakeholders considered it necessary to change the name to more effectively reflect the wide range of programmes that were being offered as well as its expanded focus.  The concern was to have a more generic name that would not only identify it as a Bible College but as a Christ-centred educational institution that prepared students both for ministry in the church and transformational leadership in their communities and society. Therefore, after consultations with the various groups: board members, past students, present students, faculty, staff, friends and well-wishers of the College, a more generic name was found.  On August 3, 2012 the name of the College was officially changed from Jamaica Bible College to Regent College of the Caribbean.

With its emphasis on maintaining a shalom community the College continues to boast quality education, well-maintained physical facilities, and an environment conducive to study and meditation.