Make Universities More Community Focused

TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS located in the Corporate Area have been charged to rethink their relevance to the communities in which they operate.

Speaking at the 'Changing the Landscape of Education Within Under-resourced Urban Schools Symposium' last Friday at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona campus, Dr David Jordan, social entrepreneurship professor at Clark University in the United States of America, said for the universities and colleges to remain viable, they must now rethink their roles in society.

Jordan said these institutions must become more than just passive observers of the problems affecting communities around them and start to actively help to change their communities.

"Colleges and universities and other similar institutions must really become active agents in social change, not just passive observers and researchers," he said.

Jordan suggested that a consortium of Kingston and St Andrew colleges and universities be established to look at the coordination and execution of community activities especially in inner-city communities.

He said the consortium should also look at partnering with the private sector to create a small business development incubator and micro-loan fund to assist persons from impoverished areas establish successful enterprises.

"We are never going to effectively change education or make education available until you address, concurrently, the poverty in the community," Jordan added.

"I am saying open up the doors of the universities and colleges and let in the community, and conversely, move the colleges and universities into the community. This can be orchestrated. For example, the UWI has a medical school, why aren't we in the community providing free baby clinics, free services to women, free screenings to men?"

He said projects such as these would allow the community to benefit from the work that is being done by the institutions and would provide students with hands-on experience. "By conjoining in a consortium all of the college and universities in Kingston with all those bright people, talented leaders can sit and talk about what's necessary and then focus their talents and efforts," Jordan said.

He said such a consortium would not affect competition between schools, as efficiency should be the driving force behind universities and colleges competing for students' enrolment.