U.B. Joins Forces with University of the West Indies

Regional institution UWI and Belize’s national university UB signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen partnerships to improve tertiary level education in Belize. The MOU seeks to foster the relationship through collaborative efforts in a number of areas including research and programme and course development. The goal is to intensify efforts to develop Belize’s human resources as a critical contributor to the country’s social and economic development. News Five’s Andrea Polanco attended today’s signing.

Andrea Polanco, Reporting
Today, the University of the West Indies and the University of Belize signed a memorandum of understanding formalizing their relationship. The UWI and UB have worked with each other for more than fifteen years. But today’s signing will see that relationship officially extend to include more initiatives, including professional development for faculty and staff, research, teaching, programme and course development, as well as student exchanges. It is hoped that these mechanismswill better position UBas an academic institution and better prepare students so that they are more competitive when they go in the work place.

ALAN SLUSHER
Alan Slusher, President, University of Belize
“A major part of the effort is going to involve strengthening our capacity to deliver relevant training and instruction to our students. That process starts from the design of our individual courses and programmes. It extends in to making sure that we deliver to students the quality of instruction that is required for the development of this country and also that students absorb the information that is being passed on to them, being delivered to them, and at the end of the process that the evaluation processes of student performance are transparent, effective and efficient. So, we are looking for institutional help in that entire delivery process. The objective of the exercise is that we get the highest possible quality of student graduate than we can possibly get in the system. What we are looking for in the assistance and support from the UWI is that kind of oversight. They themselves are subjected to the oversight in the accreditation processes. We are not accredited yet in Belize, so we are looking for that kind of support and assistance which, while not constituting accreditation, would give us that same kind of effect in terms of the quality of your student graduate at the end of the day.” Read more

Source: News 5 Belize