Lalita Ramlal-Chirkoot

Lalita Ramlal-Chirkoot currently serves as the Dean of the School of Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning, a position she has held for the past 2 ½ years. Under her leadership, the School has moved from being a mere concept on the organizational chart, to become a well established provider of professional development programmes and a key revenue generating arm of the College.

Lalita joined the COSTAATT team in 2001 as the sole full-time senior lecturer in the Department of Natural and Life Sciences, and was charged with the responsibility of developing a support unit to serve the College’s many para-professional programmes that required courses in these areas. Not surprisingly, Lalita became the first ever Chair of the Department of Natural and Life Sciences, during which time she lead the team responsible for the development and implementation of three associate degree programmes, and for supporting the entire College in its natural science requirements. She also initiated work on two new bachelor degree programmes, which were implemented, subsequent to her appointment to the position of Dean.

Mrs. Ramlal-Chirkoot possesses a Bachelor’s degree in Physics (hons.) from the University of the West Indies. She also possesses a Masters degree in Education and is currently pursuing a PhD in Higher Education Administration. A research affiliate of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, Mrs. Ramlal-Chirkoot actively participates in their many publications on adult education and is also a certified Prior Learning and Assessment (PLAR) assessor. She has served on many national committees in higher education and is driven by the philosophy that learning takes place both within and external to the classroom, which supports her passion for research in the areas of adult education and student development.