 Posted 2/27/2010 8:53:50 PM
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| A recent news item indicated that the Mona and St. Augustine campuses of the University of the West Indies are encountering problems recruiting foreign lecturers due to high rates of crime in these territorities. What are the implications if any on the quality of teaching and learning at these campuses? Further, with Jamaica recording 1680 murders and Trinidad just over 500 murders in 2009, what strategies can be implemented in these territories to reduce the high crime rates?
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Posted 2/28/2010 10:43:51 AM
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| Is there any indication of whats causing this rate in crimes? Are the goverrments putting anything in place curb the spike? How is the society at large reacting to this crime spree? And aren't there qualified teaching inthe region who can fill these vacant positions?
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Posted 3/2/2010 7:44:26 AM
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| I have absolutely no doubt that the Caribbean has and will continue to produce the technical and academic professionals who are capable of efficiently delivering a curriculum of excellence at the UWI campuses. However, the data on the brain drain produced by the IMF points to a movement of approximately 70% of tertiary educated Caribbean nationals (that is, persons who have received more than 12 years of schooling) to OECD member countries. The figures for Jamaica stands at about 85% and Trinidad about 79%. As a region we continue to lose just under half of our skilled labour force to other countries. Therefore, it is easy to argue that the worsening economic climate in Jamaica coupled with other factors such as crime and violence may serve not to attract persons to its shores but to push its nationals and potential regional migrants to other countries. UWI is now contending that it is unable to attract foreign nationals to the Mona and St. Augustine campuses primarily because of spiking crime rates Violence is seeping its way into our primary and secondary schools and the implications are clear in relation to the loss of instructional time and the quality of instructional delivery. The inability to attract a qualified cadre of techincal and academic professionals by UWI will eventually impact not only on teaching and learning but on enrolment rates as well. Parents who have the financial option will enrol their children in universities abroad. It becomes imperative that as a region we collectively and individually tackle crime and violence head on not only to preserve fundamental institutions but our societies on the whole. Where do we begin? what do we do?
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Posted 3/2/2010 4:28:41 PM
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| Let me stray a little....Well as simple as it may sound, television can also be an educational forum that contributes to criminal activities. Most Parents are not aware of what their kids are watching which in lots of cases are some crime related movies or the songs they are listening (e.g. rap and heavy metal, dub and even soca music). They leave their little ones all alone to watch the Cartoon channel, and what you see? Guns, fighting, profanity, sex etc. They actually are amuzed the way the kids recite gang related songs line by line, and think "the kid is bright" So at a tender age our children are getting the unwanted education, that continues into adulthood.....They are exposed to pornography as they are allowed watch channels that are not blocked and this could eventually spill off to rape.....All in all I am just saying or trying to say that crime is implanted in young minds, where it is molded and developed in ways we cannot even begin to imagine hence contributing to what is happening in our world today.
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