– UWI eager to assist with creating ‘Higher Education Hub’

Discussions for a potential “UWI-UG” bridge are underway, signalling the increased focus on boosting Guyana’s social and economic development and promoting mutual development of the University of Guyana (UG) and the region’s University of the West Indies (UWI).

In a recent press release, Vice-Chancellor of The UWI and President of Universities Caribbean, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, highlighted, “Regional university leaders got together to energise and revamp the Association of Caribbean Universities and Research Institutes—now rebranded as Universities Caribbean in order to create a network of integrated universities for future development planning.”

This was done as part of the efforts to propel regional economic and social development. The membership of Universities Caribbean includes 50 universities, and currently plans are underway for joint inter-university degree programmes. One such project is a Master Degree in Caribbean Civilisation to be delivered by six universities within the diverse language groups of the region.

Professor Beckles noted that many extra-regional universities have expressed strong interests in participating in the Caribbean Education sector, but drew attention to the emerging relationship between the UWI and the government of Guyana to enhance human resource development. It was recently announced that the Government of Guyana is currently negotiating an agreement with the UWI to train up to 20,000 Guyanese over the next five years as part of efforts to propel Guyana’s human resource development strategy.

“Against this background, the UWI is keen to participate in ‘rekindling Guyana’s economic and social development’,” Professor Beckles said in the release. Importantly, he reminded of the “long and intimate” academic relationship the regional university shared with the UG, and highlighted that management of the UWI expressed a keen interest in deepening this relationship when Professor E. Nigel Harris was appointed Chancellor and also with the appointment of Chancellor Professor Eddie Greene. This continued with past Vice-Chancellor Ivelaw Griffith and now, Sir Beckles said, the UWI is ‘further energised’ with the appointment of Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paloma Mohamed Martin.

“Before COVID-19, Chancellor Greene and I spoke about building the ‘UWI-UG Bridge’. That conversation has been ongoing. We imagined the bridge as a mutual development strategy that will promote regional integration and expand teaching and research capacity,” Professor Beckles said. He added that this bridge has tremendous potential benefits for Guyana.

Furthermore, he noted that President Irfaan Ali conceptualised the idea of Guyana as host to a “Higher Education Hub” through which the UWI wishes to partner in nurturing this infant.

“Guyana will be the development beneficiary,” he assured and said that already, Guyanese scholars- who are mostly products of the UG- have made a superordinate contribution to the rise of the UWI.

“It is in this spirit of collaboration that we are keen to assist in creating the ‘Guyana Higher Education Hub’. Together they will constitute a pathway to peace and prosperity through partnership,” he said in the release.