A quick, sunny stopover in Martinique: we meet Ms Nadine Soupama, director of the Private Higher Educational Institution (law, finance and economics).
You offer courses in finance, law and economics. Are your students mostly from Martinique and surrounding areas, or do you offer courses to students from other places?
Most of our students are from Martinique, but we do also attract learners from the surrounding islands and we welcome international students.
Your institution is developing fast. What are your current plans?
In the short term we plan to offer sandwich training that will help meet recruitment needs in Martinique. In the medium and long terms, we plan to offer courses in the ‘Greater Caribbean’ and to develop contacts and exchanges with institutions internationally.
Distance learning is currently on the rise. How are you working with your students in the correct context?
Given the current health risk, we are aiming to digitise all our courses to facilitate both in-person and distance learning. We plan to offer both types of learning.
What is the advantage of FEDE membership?
I am really happy that we joined the FEDE. It’s a great opportunity for our institution, given that it wishes to develop a more international vision. The FEDE also allows us to offer a wide range of additional courses in Martinique. And it has opened the door to Europe and the world beyond Europe. Our values are similar to those of the FEDE: for example, student-focused learning, personalised supervision, the acquisition of workplace know-how through work experience, well-equipped classrooms and leisure areas, and small class sizes.
Last but not least, what are your hopes for 2021?
I hope, like everyone in the education sector, to ensure that young people in Martinique are given solid professional training so as to reduce school dropouts, improve career prospects, develop networking and knowledge sharing, and more.
In 2021 we hope to develop our various projects and to increase the visibility of the FEDE across the islands in the region.
