Tertiary Education–Private Sector Engagement: A Strategic approach to catalysing innovation, economic revitalisation, and inclusive development in CARICOM countries

Howe,Glenford; Kassim, Halima-Sa’adia; Rampersad, David

Howe,Glenford; Kassim, Halima-Sa’adia; Rampersad, David The University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus, Trinidad &Tobago https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8882-237X

Abstract

This article provides an analytical framework for assessing and facilitating productive collaborations between the higher education sector and the private sector in the Caribbean. It argues that such partnerships can be crucial to economic growth, innovation and inclusive development in the region. The paper however points to certain challenges which must be tackled if meaningful and lasting benefits for the region are to be derived and maximised. These include addressing the lack of clarity in definition of the private sector as well as tackling the weak institutional capacities and the paucity of effective strategic partnerships among Caribbean higher education institutions.”..

Author Biography

Howe,Glenford; Kassim, Halima-Sa’adia; Rampersad, David, The University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus, Trinidad &Tobago

Glenford D. Howe

Dr. Glenford D. Howe, Senior Programme Office in the Open Campus, The University of the West Indies, studied at the UWI Cave Hill campus (1987-1990) where he obtained a BA in History and Political Science. He then proceeded to the University of London (1991-1993). His thesis “Race War Nationalism: A Social History of West Indians in the First World War” was turned into a TV documentary by Channel 4 TV and published as a book, made into a radio documentary by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in 2016. Dr. Howe has written and published on a wide variety of subjects including history, politics, education, health, the rule of law, child protection, and consulted for the UNESCO International Bureau of Education in Geneva, the UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean in Venezuela, UNICEF, the United Nations Development Programme, Caribbean governments, and the BBC among others. His multidisciplinary scholarship is being used in a number of leading universities globally. Together with Professor Alan Cobley, he produced the first book on HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean. He also drafted CARICOM’s 2030 HRD Strategy under the supervision of the CARICOM HRD Commission, and specialises in tertiary education policy in the region.

Halima-Sa’adia KASSIM

Halima-Sa’adia Kassim has over fifteen years of research and management experience in national and regional organisations reflecting a rich and diverse experience in project writing and grant funding, teaching, education administration, and in inter-governmental organisation. She is the author of several technical papers on gender and development, gender-based violence including cyber-violence, child protection, migration, MDGs, and changing population dynamics in the Caribbean region. She also authored several peer-reviewed articles/book chapters on the Muslim community related to education, religious organisations, gendered identities, cultural retention and negotiation in Trinidad and Tobago and on issues related to higher education administration and gender. She is the author of a monograph on a credit union development in Trinidad and Tobago. She obtained her Ph.D. from the University of the West Indies (UWI). She is currently employed at the University Office of Planning, The University of the West Indies. Her academic research interests include the evolution of the Muslim community with a particular focus on Trinidad and Tobago, gendered identities, cultural retention and negotiation.

David Rampersad

Dr. David Rampersad, Senior Adviser to the Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West Indies (UWI), has more than twenty-one years’ experience in the field of higher education management. Beginning as a fund-raiser, first for the University of Oxford and subsequently for the University of Cambridge, he has worked with key stakeholders of the UWI since 2002 to establish value-creating links with local and regional private and public sectors and international funding agencies. He has aimed to influence and direct the creation of an entrepreneurial approach to institutional productivity and execution, with the aim of increasing both traditional and non-traditional forms of revenue. Oversight and management of the preparation of proposals for national, regional and international funding; the negotiation of contracts; project management; research management; knowledge transfer; and the implementation of the UWI’s internationalization strategy have all been central to Dr. Rampersad’s responsibilities at the UWI.