UWI Vice-Chancellor Warns of Shortage of University Graduates in the Caribbean
The head of the University of the West Indies (UWI) has warned that the Caribbean is falling behind in producing enough university graduates to drive social and economic development.
Speaking virtually at the UWI Five Islands Campus matriculation ceremony on Thursday, Vice-Chancellor Sir Hilary Beckles said the region remains “a minority within a minority” when it comes to higher education, with only about 50,000 students enrolled across UWI’s five campuses.
“Our Caribbean world is noted for its underperformance in terms of generating young people who are duly matriculated into our universities and our colleges,” Beckles said. “We need to do more”.
Beckles added that the shortage of graduates has direct consequences for development, saying a region’s ability to grow depends on the number of citizens with university education, professional training, and technical skills. He urged students to embrace activism and advocacy on issues such as economic growth, food security, climate change, and youth marginalisation.
“Your success means a great deal to all of us, not only to your families and your friends, but also to your communities and your societies,” Beckles told the new cohort.
The ceremony in Antigua marked the formal induction of 443 students into UWI Five Islands, the newest of the university’s five campuses, which opened in 2019 and continues to expand its reach across the Eastern Caribbean.
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Well, Sir. What else do you expect?
Thanks to you and some other UWI officials, the once well respected university of the West Indies, recognized all over the world has now become second rate. You were so anxious to build legacy that you joined with a leader who could care less about academia and more about being the one who brought a regional institution like the great UWI to Antigua. Cheapening its good name and international appeal. Now our students are heading outside the region for their academic training. UWI is not so sought after anymore. It is taking in CSEC students just out of high school who just made it with a pass.
@Who cause that
Why so negative, how is UWI second rate, and why must we always make everything about politics? It ranks in the top 1.5% worldwide and yes you can google/research that to see it’s the truth. Yes 1.5%!! Just imagine that a school from the Caribbean can actually rank so high!! Impressive isn’t it? Search Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025.
You call is second rate but you yourself also call it “regional institution like the great UWI”.
The problem isn’t that students are heading outside the region, it’s that we still think that the North America and other areas are better and not look to our own. The only reason to look elsewhere is because what you want to study isn’t offered at UWI. Maybe if students/parents invest in local/regional and stop paying double and sometimes triple as an international student that we would actually understand that the quality of education provided by UWI is still top notch.
The numbers are stark however the reasons behind it may go beyond matriculation and university enrolment. We have a serious brain drain problem in the Caribbean due to lack of job opportunities for recent graduates with employers calling for experience and not skills, underemployment and underpayment, more lucrative opportunities in developed nations, ineffective development strategies and lack of innovation to keep the skillful present, along with an underwhelming, underperforming Public and Private Sector.
The local economy is driven by Tourism and Construction. Therefore, with no real alternatives outside of what parents encouraged (Accounting, Medicine, Law), many are left to seek out employment elsewhere. Their disciplines could truly transform the country under visionary leadership.
We, however, lack proper planning, execution and are in bed with corrupt, systemic practices. Hopefully, someone in the near future will make the necessary changes or disruptions to the status quo, but this truly, is not happening now and the brain drain will continue.
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