Education Minister Reveals Major Plans With UWI

Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

There will be greater partnership between the University of the West Indies and the Turks & Caicos in 2023 after a high-level meeting between representatives recently.

This is according to Rachel Taylor, Minister of Education in a press conference on Thursday. Taylor said they had come up with several medium-term programs including different types of joint degree programs. These would be in fields including, Primary and Secondary Education, Business Studies, and Social Work.

Lecturers at the TCICC will also be trained in the delivery of lessons to make sure they are capable instructors for students.

“They do have the knowledge, but not necessarily the teaching background— for example, if we were doing a course in the area of law, we would recruit lawyers from around the Turks and Caicos Islands. –– We want to make sure that although they have the skills, they are able to deliver the courses.” she said.

Taylor stressed that this was not unique to the TCI, as the UWI Mona campus mandates the same program for all their new lecturers.

Taylor explained another critical program, especially for lifelong learners, this time a long-term initiative, online college degrees.

While she could not give a specific date in the online program, she promised updates in short order.

In terms of housing, which Taylor said had been an issue, the university is working on a program to facilitate Turks and Caicos islanders in on-campus housing, whether they attend UWI or not. The Education ministry says it is excited for the partnership that came from the meeting.

Present in the meeting were Premier Washington Misick, Minister Rachel Taylor, top administrators of the UWI including Vice Chancellor Hillary Beckles, Mona Principal Dale Webber, the Dean of Medical Sciences, and other delegates and administrators.