SIR HILARY BECKLES has linked the sluggish rate of development in the Caribbean to the low enrolment of students in higher education.
The principal of the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, lamented the “shortage” of competency and skills to drive the region forward, saying it lagged behind other areas of the Western Hemisphere.
He said at the moment only 18 per cent of CARICOM citizens between the age of 18 and 30 were involved in higher education, compared to Latin America’s 40 per cent and North America’s 55 per cent. This low figure, he said, was contributing to “a slowdown” in the development of the Caribbean.
“We do not have in the Caribbean at this point enough people with an appropriate attitude, an appropriate consciousness and appropriate skill base, and all of those things are required to fuel the economy,” Sir Hilary said. (MM)
Here (From left) Principal and pro vice chancellor of the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus, Sir Hilary Beckles; deputy chief executive officer of First Citizens Group, Sharon Christopher; programme manager of strategic business services at the Cave Hill School of Business, Brian Toppin; and chief executive officer and director of the School of Business, Dr Jeannine Comma, during the naming of one of the rooms at the learning institution. (Picture by Lennox Devonish.)
