The University of the West Indies, St Augustine, is in grave danger of losing its autonomy and this is a dangerous development. That was among several concerns raised by former president and former UWI’s St Augustine campus principal George Maxwell Richards during the ceremonial opening of the 2015-2016 law term.
He spoke to an audience of judges, lawyers, diplomats and politicians during an inter-faith service at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Port-of-Spain, yesterday. He said that former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar was told of such issues.
"It is with deep concern that some most unwelcome signs which suggested that the university was in grave danger from losing its autonomy which I regret to say was under considerable threat.
"The university must enjoy a good measure of autonomy because its contribution depends substantially on the activities of its academics and students to discuss, evaluate, criticise and investigate ideas and thus make available to the policy-makers and the community possible options," Richards said. He also said there was a reluctance on the part of the UWI's staff to travel to the recently opened law school in Debe, Penal
"I wish to highlight the academic isolation of the new students and the reluctance of academic staff based at the main campus in St Augustine to commute to Penal.
"Let me assure that I would have raised these issue, no matter which government had assumed responsibility," Richards said.
While saying free tertiary education was important to T&T, Richards urged that it be continued but he called for more stringent measures to be implemented. Saying it was important that a detailed manpower survey be conducted, Richards said priority must be given to those in "important disciplines."
"I hate to say it... not social sciences," Richards said, adding that a country's most significant resources was its human capital since this was key to national development.
"Knowledge for its own sake is a luxury that we cannot afford. It is crucial to note that the university has a role to play in ensuring that not every social value is measured in terms of technological achievement," Richards said.
In expressing further concerns, he said those included several probing questions, like whether the university was to be an "ivory tower", "service station" or "frontier post". Richards said the institution owed a duty to the three constituencies, namely the students, its disciplines and the community.
Kamla responds
Persad-Bissessar who was also present at yesterday's ceremony said she was not aware of reluctance on the part of staff to travel to the Debe Campus. "We have put everything in place and it would be a great tragedy if the campus was not to open. If it is that staff do not want to commute then that says something very interesting.
"Then that says that all the staff were from somewhere else. Is it that there are no staff from South? Are there staff who now commute to go to St Augustine?" Persad-Bissessar asked. On comments made by Richards that the university was being politicised, Persad-Bissessar said, she would have to find out what Richards meant.