WHAT MATTERS MOST: Semester worry

IT IS TIME!
Just as my experiences in politics give me a unique perspective of the arena, I am equally privileged to have a perspective as a part-time lecturer at the University of the West Indies.
Furthermore, the two courses which I have the honour of teaching provide insights into the Barbadian and Caribbean economic realities that perhaps are not as readily available in most other courses.
First, my experience as a student was different because of the trimester system which accommodated scholarship as time was its companion; and time is the single most important ingredient in the pursuit of knowledge.  
The widely held view that people are born bright is overrated, but such a view justified an environment of inequality and allowed for its persistence. It is the same kind of view that suggests that a manager is born; and on a larger scale, certain countries have to experience persistent poverty not because of the systems which they inherited but because the inhabitants happen to be less equal.
It is all about the allocation of time; being bright therefore has to do with taking less time to understand. But the notion that knowledge can be acquired without investing time is false.
What is most fascinating about the physical world is the increasing value being assigned to non-working time or leisure and so even in a pursuit where time is of the essence, the world has found a way to reduce its value.
In an effort to be more cost effective, the delivery of tertiary education was reduced to a semester system that is opposed to scholarship.
It does not permit enough time for students to digest the information, broaden their perspective and question the knowledge.
Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to see a reversal of the semester system and so the real challenge is how to redefine scholarship. If the input is being disadvantaged at its core, then the output is going to be compromised.   
The importance of time in the quest for knowledge is further compromised by the university becoming an institution for part-time students. The fact is that a private sector driven economic system cannot accommodate full-time students on a scale that is required to transform the very economic system.
The accommodation can only come about if the private sector has the resources to contribute to the development of the human capital from which they derive substantial benefit.
It is very evident that the social and economic problems yearn for simultaneous solutions in a country that is obsessed with one equation, tourism. This is a mathematical impossibility, an economic nightmare and a social dilemma.
If the students are being educated to fill spaces in an economy that excels in buying and selling, then the areas of opportunity or lack thereof, will determine their academic pursuits. There is need for change and it cannot be done without planned economic reform.
Except in very few cases, Barbados’ labour force requirements are not sophisticated. This reflects the failure of the economy to become more sophisticated and there is little desire to change the status quo.   
The change has to start with the nature of our human and physical capital. The debate is going to be very similar to the one that the region had over 40 years with respect to foreign capital. What kind of human capital do we need? Who delivers the human capital? What kind of returns can
we expect from the investment in human capital?
The issues are big and the solution is not to simply condemn the human capital but to plan for its quantity, its quality and its flexibility.   
 Clyde Mascoll is a professional economist and former Government minister in the last Barbados Labour Party administration.