Caribbean News Service (CNS).
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, Mar 24 2016 – The University of the West Indies (UWI) has expressed concern at the low percentage of young people in the Caribbean seeking higher education as it outlined new initiatives aimed at making the regional education institution more responsive to a changing global environment.
UWI Vice Chancellor, Sir Hilary Beckles, said greater access to higher education is important and lamented the fact that “we still don’t have enough of our citizens in higher education, professional training skills.
“We need to continue to push for more of that,” he said, noting that “we in the English-speaking Caribbean have the lowest percentage of our young people in tertiary education in this hemisphere.
“It is very disturbing to me that that’s the case,” he said, adding “and we have to do better”.
The Barbadian-born historian and academic said it is also true that the university has to be “more alert to global opportunities” and welcomed the number of projects outlined by the outgoing St. Augustine Campus principal Professor Clement Sankat for the coming months ahead.