The recently signed Memorandum of Understanding between the University of the West Indies and the Caribbean Centre for Development Administration (CARICAD) will now allow students to have greater access to Caribbean research and case studies.
Students pursuing a bachelor’s degree in public sector management and administration would have a wealth of Caribbean examples to reference, that could be difficult to retrieve.
Head of the Department of Government, Sociology, Social Work and Psychology at the Cave Hill Campus, Dr Wendy Grenade, explained that the ability to extract information from regional sources would give students a better understanding of how governmental institutions operate on a regional level.
“Many of our students who study public sector management and administration use books with case studies from North America,” she said during the signing ceremony held at the Cave Hill School of Business and Management.
“This MOU is therefore significant because it allows us to have homegrown Caribbean cases.
“For years CARICAD has been doing change and strategic management with public sectors throughout the Caribbean and we want our University students, when they leave here, to have a global outlook but rooted in the Caribbean. And part of that foundation means they must understand what happens in a Caribbean environment and the challenges.”
Dr Grenade also explained that CARICAD and the University were strengthening their partnership through collaborative research engagements, combined public sector outreach programmes, student developmental opportunities such as internships at various intra-region organisations, capacity development initiatives for leaders in the private sector and non-governmental institutions and joint strategies to enhance public sector governance and political leadership.
Executive director of CARICAD Devon Rowe, said there was an obvious need for new and creative thinking in the public sector when it comes to national development. He noted that learning approaches needed to be more competence based.
Rowe added that public sector reform was also a key component for Caribbean governments to improve their administrative capabilities, which would accelerate their social and economic development. (SB)
