| Caribbean
awareness of the value of education has spiralled beyond measure in the last ten years.
The ambitious high school graduate has visions of joining the work force as near as
possible to the top rung of the ladder and sees education as the means by which this may
be achieved. A master's degree is seen as the minimum level of attainment for the college
graduate and it is not uncommon to hear persons aspiring to consultant positions, just a
few years after obtaining the degree. Accordingly, governments have ensured
universal primary education and in most countries universal secondary education has been
achieved. Today, there is increased public pressure on most education systems to provide
both expanded access and offerings at the tertiary level. In addition to the growing
number of students who need training in a wide range of technological skills before
entering the workforce, there is increased demand for re-training by adult workers in
response to changing employment requirements in the age of informatics and advanced
technology.
Globalisation, threats of trade liberalisation, slumping economies and downsizing have
made Caribbean countries "Societies at Risk ". Given scarce physical
resources and the vulnerability of the region as exporters of primary products, attention
must now be firmly focused on the development of human resources in the hope that a
skilled, competent, creative and motivated labour force will be capable of
"supporting a development strategy dependent more on human than on natural
resources" (World Bank 1993). This strategy requires that human resources are
competitive on the world labour market.
Dr Norman Girvan, a noted economist, maintains that "an active approach" to
participation in a global economy “would place greater emphasis on the development of
human skills and of technological, entrepreneurial and managerial capabilities in the
state and private sector. These would become the basis for developing competitive
advantages among individual firms and industrial clusters and at the level of the economy
as a whole" (Girvan,1997).
Consequently, there is urgent need to develop a tertiary education sector, which caters
to the needs of a rapidly changing world with its demand for ever-varying skills. But
education is costly!! Given recent economic trends, governments are hardly able to
assign more of the national budget to education, thus expansion and improved quality in
the tertiary education sector can only be accomplished by the efficient use of available
resources.
When each nation state attempts to "go it alone", however, there must
invariably be duplication of effort, wasted time, money and resources in re-inventing
the wheel. At the end of the day course offerings are still limited due to small
populations and inadequate financing.. Delivery of a course to less than five students can
hardly be considered cost-effective but occurs in Eastern Caribbean states which, as
disadvantaged non-campus territories, have vigorously pursued the expansion of their
tertiary sectors to compensate.
The time has come for the Caribbean to look towards alternative ways of realising goals
for tertiary education. Institutional collaboration and Information technology appear to
offer some hope. The former has the ability to enhance the range and depth of
courses offered, the latter provides the medium for delivery.
Many Caribbean countries have conducted educational programmes in collaboration with
external institutions. In 1998, a proposal from the Commonwealth of Learning
accepted by the Government of Dominica, enabled eleven graduate teachers at the secondary
level, to receive professional training from Memorial University of Newfoundland. Courses
were delivered by distance using print, the UWIDEC teleconferencing system and Internet
chat facilities. The practicum was conducted in Dominica by college staff. This
collaborative effort enabled more teachers to be trained at one time than would otherwise
have been financially possible. There were problems - but the experience pointed to the
potential for similar collaborative efforts closer to home.
Consider the situation where the number of applicants to a particular programme of
study is too small to be considered cost- effective by an institution. Would it not be
possible for the course to be offered by distance to students at another college?
Could not an expert Mathematician in country X make lectures available to another
college where no such expertise is available? Could not library facilities and
audio-visual resources be shared? In this century, nation states must see themselves in
the wider context of Caribbean integration and be willing to dialogue and work with each
other to maximise the use of combined resources.
Continue on next page...
|
