The Barbados economy is expected to grow in the areas of science and technology over the coming years.
This was the prediction of Sir Hilary Beckles, principal of the University of the West Indies (UWI) at Cave Hill, who said that the institution was expanding to meet expected demand in those areas.
His comments came as he responded to questions from the audience during last Friday’s session of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Barbados’ (ICAB) annual conference at Hilton Barbados.
His presentation was on Unlocking Potential – Converting Ideas Into Reality.
“Having grown the campus on the social sciences platform in the last six years based on the services economy model, we now believe that the future is going to be on the innovation frontier,” he said.
“We believe that is where the future is going to be in this country. We believe that’s where the students will find relevance and great potential for self-employment . . . .
“The green economy has potential in this country and in the transition to the green economy a lot of jobs will be created for all types of businesses. So we are rolling out the science and technology initiative at Cave Hill because we believe, in the next five years, that is where we are going to grow,” added Beckles.
He said that the UWI remained relevant and that funding was being put to good use. Beckles said about five years ago a body of “private sector leaders” reviewed the university’s programmes to determine if they were in line with local and regional economies.
“We grew in the areas of the social sciences that were linked directly to the services economy model. So we looked at the Barbados economy, where the growth was taking place and where there was potential for expansion. So the growth of enrolment was not willy-nilly. It was absolutely focused on the structure and trajectory of the Barbados economy; we expanded in finance and banking and tourism studies, [and] project evaluation,” Beckles said.
A regional study done by the university last year revealed that about 85 per cent of Cave Hill graduates found jobs within six months of graduation, he said.
“This is far above the regional and international average. [It proves] that we have grown the enrolments specifically in those areas where we knew the economy was growing and where students could [be absorbed,” said Beckles, adding that the university had also established a number of programmes to develop entrepreneurs, where “students are doing very, very well.” (MM)