Holness urges UWI student leaders to help advance Caribbean integration
Key Points(5)
- Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness has urged student leaders at the University of the West Indies (UWI) to play a greater role in advancing Caribbean integration while preparing themselves to compete in a rapidly changing global economy.
- Holness made the call during a meeting with 35 members of UWI’s regional guild leadership at Jamaica House on Friday, September 18.
- The delegation included student representatives from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, and St.
- Vincent and the Grenadines.
- The prime minister encouraged the students to build stronger relationships across the Caribbean and beyond, while developing the skills and mindset needed to succeed in an increasingly competitive global labor market.
Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness has urged student leaders at the University of the West Indies (UWI) to play a greater role in advancing Caribbean integration while preparing themselves to compete in a rapidly changing global economy.
Holness made the call during a meeting with 35 members of UWI’s regional guild leadership at Jamaica House on Friday, September 18. The delegation included student representatives from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The prime minister encouraged the students to build stronger relationships across the Caribbean and beyond, while developing the skills and mindset needed to succeed in an increasingly competitive global labor market.
He also urged young Caribbean people to move from being primarily consumers of technology to becoming creators and innovators, emphasizing the importance of greater investment in science, mathematics and technology.
“All of you are existing in a period of time where the rate of change of innovation, of technology has never been as fast as it is now,” Holness said.
“You are going into a world where you’re going to be required not only to know the conventional wisdom, but you are going to be required to be innovators and creators of new knowledge, new ways of doing things.”
Holness said the next generation of Caribbean leaders must remain rooted in a regional identity while becoming more closely connected to the global economy.
“Yes, we must see ourselves as Caribbean, but we can’t see ourselves as not connected to the global ecosystem,” he said. “Yes, we are small islands, but that does not stop us from being innovators.”
The meeting also included discussions on affordable housing, debt management, regional integration, productivity and efficiency, as well as leadership at the student, regional and global levels.
Holness said the engagement provided the Jamaican government with an opportunity to hear directly from student leaders about issues affecting young people across Jamaica and the wider Caribbean.
He stressed that young people should have a voice in shaping the region’s future, with discussions also touching on education, student development and opportunities for Caribbean youth.
Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister, Senator Abka Fitz-Henley, who also participated in the meeting, said the Jamaican government was committed to continued engagement with student representative bodies across the region.
Fitz-Henley said Holness valued the views of young people and their contributions to policymaking and addressing challenges affecting their generation.
UWI Mona Guild President Keshawn McGrath thanked Holness and Fitz-Henley for meeting with the delegation and responding to questions from the student leaders.
McGrath said the Guild intends to pursue further engagement with the government as student leaders seek a deeper understanding of the national, regional and international challenges facing Caribbean countries.
