BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – Caribbean leaders have endorsed a three-day meeting to discuss the development of education in the region.
Grenada’s Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell said the Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies (UWI) Sir Hilary Beckles had made a major presentation to regional leaders on education during their annual summit that ended here over the weekend.
“We talking about leveraging our knowledge regionally and internationally, and not in just one area,” he said, adding that his regional colleagues “were extremely impressed”.
“It was very stimulating and all the heads will tell you and in fact when he was finished, all the heads said it was one of the most stimulating presentations they have heard.
“He (Sir Hilary) has presented a proposal and wanted the heads to endorse a three-day meeting, headed by the UWI, supported by the CARICOM Secretariat and of course regional heads where they will be bringing all the players at the table to talk about the development of education in the region and the role of the university in advancing that”.
Mitchell said the meeting would also be attended by sporting organisations because the UWI Vice Chancellor outlined how “education can help develop our sporting activities in the region and we need a lot of help as you know in cricket….”
No date has yet been given for the meeting, but Mitchell said that Sir Hilary wanted a commitment from the region to “ensure that we could invest much more in education.
“When you look at the GDP (Gross Domestic Product), we hardly spending any money on research. Even the University of the West Indies was hardly doing any research in the region as a whole,” Mitchell said, adding that Sir Hilary wanted a commitment from regional governments in that vision he was talking about.
