VICE-CHANCELLOR’S PITCH FOR $600 MIL. TO ECLAC TO DRIVE RESEARCH FOR ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION.
Following presentations by ECLAC, the IDB and World Bank, Vice-Chancellor Beckles underscored the importance for the ideas emanating from the discussion to migrate from academic discourse into “practical solutions of an emergency nature required right now to save the region”. He shared the concern that the university sector is at risk of collapse given the dire current circumstances and called upon multilateral development partners, donor agencies and developed countries to help strengthen the resilience of the Caribbean through investment in human capital development with a special carve out for the higher education and research sector. Responding to the Vice-Chancellor’s proposal, Chief of the ECLAC subregional headquarters for the Caribbean, Diane Quarless affirmed the importance of ensuring that the positive outcome of this dialogue among development partners results ultimately in durable support for tertiary education in the region through strategic action and resource mobilization.
At a high-level virtual meeting of regional Prime Ministers, Ministers, senior policy makers, representatives from the United Nations, international donor agencies and development banks in 2020, jointly organised by The UWI and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Vice- Chancellor Beckles made a call for a multi-donor trust fund to invest USD 600 million over three years for the Caribbean’s human capital development. Qualifying the proposal, he declared that while the governments have been doing the best they can, with the economic contraction precipitated by the pandemic, the Caribbean’s higher education system is at risk of systemic decline unless there is urgent investment in the sector. The virtual development partner forum was a swift response to support a focused discussion on higher education. Forum’s Chairperson, Premier and Minister of Finance of the British Virgin Islands, the Honourable Andrew Fahie, who also serves as a Vice Chair of the ECLAC Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee, noted, “I believe we have no choice but
to work more closely as partners in the Caribbean to survive this crisis and go on to thrive in multiple economic sectors. I am very encouraged by the partnership already in action by ECLAC and The UWI... they have brought us to this virtual table during this unprecedented moment in history. Let their partnership be an example to us as we go forward.” The Honourable Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, in her feature address, thanked The UWI and ECLAC for bringing this critical discourse to fruition. She admitted it is not a normal discourse in the middle of a pandemic setting, saying “I don’t think that most persons across the world are looking at the stabilisation of investment in tertiary education.” She added, “Investment ought to be the prism in which we see our expenditure in education... and we must craft a new vision for education in general, inclusive of higher education.” She also emphasized that she was looking forward to seeing the discussions translated into policies that can influence decisions not just regionally, but through UN ECLAC internationally.
97
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator