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July 2009
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EDITORIAL
Always pushing beyond Malaysia
In challenging financial times, areas earmarked for cutbacks in developmental resources are those lowest on the scale of need. Today, as countries rich and poor seek to establish knowledge-based economies, educational needs have been placed high on national priority agendas.
In mid-June, at the 17th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Education Ministers agreed that although the global downturn had affected poorer countries and small states more substantially, they countered that recovery was only sustainable if knowledge and skills were developed.
The theme of the Conference was “Education in the Commonwealth: Towards and Beyond Global Goals and Targets.” The Conference was opened by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who noted that, “Malaysia’s new economic model will shift a reliance from a manufacturing base dependent on semi-skilled and low cost labour to one that hinges on a modern services sector dependant upon skilled and highly paid workers.”
To support this thrust, Malaysia spends 23% of its budget on education. With 20 public and 32 private universities, the country expects in 2010 to have 40% of 17-23-year-olds (1.3 million students) enrolled in tertiary education with the ratio of Certificates and Diplomas to Bachelor’s Degrees being close to 2:1. Like Trinidad and Tobago, Malaysia is determined to achieve world class status and has focused on developing one or two of its universities to achieve global ranking through research and development and doing this by having the best leaders, faculty, students and facilities.
Speaking at the Vice Chancellor’s Forum, I emphasized that investing in human capital development can bring rich rewards, and that it is not only about numbers related to access and outputs, but also about quality. The utilitarian purpose of education must also be tempered by the social development of individuals and the need to build caring, tolerant and safer societies.
The UWI Strategic Plan 2007-2012 presents our own framework for the St Augustine Campus and the other three Campuses of The UWI to develop that distinctive graduate who can take our country and region on the trajectory for development. We are committed to making this strategic vision a reality.
Clement K. Sankat
Pro Vice Chancellor & Principal
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
Campus Principal : Professor Clement Sankat
Director of Marketing and Comunications : Mrs. Dawn Marie De
Four-Gill
Editor : Ms. Vaneisa Baksh
Contact us:
The UWI Marketing and Communications Office
Tel: (868) 662-2002 exts. 2013, 2014
Email: uwitoday@sta.uwi.edu
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