From Trinidad Daily Express

Sir Hilary Beckles was installed as the new Vice Chancellor of The University of the West Indies (UWI) on Saturday night in Barbados, emphasising economic growth must remain a priority for the Caribbean.

But the Barbadian academic told the audience at the Cave Hill campus of UWI that in order to achieve the economic growth, innovation and education must be regarded as the main ingredients to ensure future socio-economic success

Sir Hilary said all of the countries throughout the world that have managed to attain substantial growth have done it through industry and education, warning without good, applied research, there can be no innovation, and without innovation “we cannot compete internationally”.

He said this is the reason why the growth in the region and recovery from the global financial crisis has been “sluggish”.

He told the gathering, that included Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, wealth creation would be an important criteria in driving the region out of the present recession, adding recession is a threat to everyone.

He said one of the ways the Caribbean can obtain wealth creation is by “uprooting” the citizens out of poverty and there is “simply too much poverty”. However, before we can do this, we must ensure every child has the opportunity to pursue higher education because it is through education they can find their way forward.

Beckles reiterated his mission of seeing to it that one day every household in Barbados and the region would have at least one graduate. He also made the call for knowledge households, which are another element to achieving economic growth.

Sir Hilary appealed to UWI Chancellor Sir George Alleyne to have the university, with campuses in Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, recommit itself to educating Caribbean people to meet the region’s developmental needs.

“We are at the bottom of the hemisphere pile in terms of the number of our citizens between the ages of 18 and 30 who are enrolled in ­higher education.

“We need to see at least one graduate of our university and colleges in every household in the Carib­bean,” he said, lamenting that the English-speaking Caribbean Community (Caricom) region has one of the lowest levels of enrolment numbers.

The former principal of the Cave Hill campus said apart from recovering from the economic crisis, the Caribbean is still “cleaning up the mess left by colonialism”.

He said as a result, those who played a part in “impoverishing the region must work with us in an orderly fashion in order to help us to achieve sustainable development”.

Sir Hilary said developing partnerships in education, research and development is also imperative in this regard.

The academic said he viewed UWI as the institution that would provide its people with the skills and knowledge to reach this pinnacle of economic development and social justice, as it would create the space for each child to grow.

He promised young people the university would do everything in its power to provide a diverse learning environment for them because he believes in doing so these graduates would one day make the university proud.

But he also urged parents to encourage their children and provide them with a nurturing environment that would assist them in going to the university, and once they help to get their children there, UWI would provide them with the facilities and the curriculum that would lead to their growth. –CMC

IMAGE: Final touch: University of the West Indies Chancellor Sir George Alleyne, right, places the final touch to the ceremonial dress as Prof Sir Hilary Beckles is installed as the Vice Chancellor of the institution on Saturday during the ceremony at the Usain Bolt Sports Complex at the Cave Hill campus in Barbados.

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