August 2016


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UWI Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Hilary Beckles delivered the feature address at the 30th Dr Eric Williams Memorial Lecture, speaking on the theme The University Sector and Economic Development in the Caribbean, on July 23 at the Central Bank auditorium.

Vice-Chancellor Sir Hilary said The UWI must constantly re-invent itself "in search of new legitimacy" and that the next stage for the university is "the creation of technology parks across the region".

He added that in Trinidad and Tobago, "We have an opportunity here with Penal/Debe to participate in the transformation of that enterprise into a technology industry-based campus for this country to drive the issues of economic diversification”.

Sir Hilary told guests that similar activities were taking place by University officials in both Jamaica and Barbados, and that, "In the next five years or so, all of our campuses will be outfitted with technology parks". The intent is that under the China-CARICOM agreement signed in Port of Spain last year, UWI students will learn software engineering from the Chinese. "The University therefore has to place, and will place, as its top priority, engaging with the process of wealth creation and the equitable distribution of that wealth within the Caribbean", he added.

With regard to GATE, but without specific mention, the Vice Chancellor said that in Barbados, it was found that 85 per cent of the students are from "working class homes" and 75 per cent are female; and 80 per cent of that 75 per cent are "working class", and 50 per cent of the 80 per cent are also "unmarried mothers”. He said the most vulnerable group in any society is made up of its "unmarried working class mothers" and was opposed to the abolition of free tertiary level education in Barbados because many unmarried mothers were trying to get a degree and move their families forward. He added that the number of persons enrolled in universities in the Caribbean, as a percentage of the overall population, is very small.

A third major point of his feature address was the Vice Chancellor’s note that The UWI is seeking alignment to industry. To this end, The UWI will now have a dedicated pro vice-chancellor at St Augustine, "to align university with industry". He said that The UWI hopes to attract "professors of practice" - persons who have excelled in business and can close the gap between academia and industry.

The Lecture series is a production of the Board of the Central Bank. It is hosted annually to commemorate the life and contribution to Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean of the country’s first Prime Minister, Dr Eric William, who also was the first person to hold the title of Pro Chancellor of The UWI.

Dr Williams was a well-known scholar and statesman who organised several lectures on West Indian history and literature before his untimely passing in 1981. He left the nation a legacy in the field of political and social history which the Central Bank series continues.

The Williams’ commemoration also includes an exhibition that is open for public edification and enjoyment at the Central Bank, until August 30, weekdays only, 8am to 4pm.