UWI promises quality night classes

Hoping to launch the St Augustine Campus Evening University with a student base of approximately 500 persons in September, campus principal Dr Bhoe Tewarie suspects the university would be receiving in excess of the expected quota of applications, due to the number of calls he has already received from interested persons. Speaking with reporters at the official launch of the evening university at the campus principal’s office at UWI yesterday, Tewarie sought to assure persons that the quality of the evening classes would be of the same calibre as those offered to students attending classes during the daytime. “Some of the lecturers will be the same so that the issue of high quality will be assured to the student,” he said.

The only differing variable will be the time at which these programmes will be delivered. Application and registration processes will also be the same, with both full-time and evening students being enrolled at the same time, and graduating at the same time. Experience and knowledge in particular fields will also give working adults an opportunity to enter the university. Stating that not much extra funding will be necessary right now, Tewarie said additional infrastructure was not needed as existing buildings would be used in the evenings, with some lecturers performing double duty. He cautioned, however, that while UWI was not approaching Government for additional funding right now, following the first and second semesters, they would have a better idea about what improvements are needed, and would act accordingly.

Additional funding from Government for capital projects go towards increasing teaching and learning spaces, laboratories, technological infrastructure and human resource support, Tewarie claimed. The issue of students’ accommodation is also being addressed, as the intake of students for day classes has been tallied at 3,000, with the evening university targeting 500 persons. Nine degree programmes are being offered at the evening campus, seven of which are undergraduate BSc programmes, and two postgraduate degree programmes at Masters level. These include Bachelor of Science; Major in Computer Science; BSc in Government; BSc in Public Sector Management; BSc in Sports Manage-ment; BSc in Economics; BSc in Management Studies; BSc in Banking and Finance; MSc in International Relations; and LLM in Corporate and Commercial Law. The evening university will be integrated with and administered in tandem with the St Augustine campus from 5 to 10 pm, from Monday to Friday; and from 8 am to 8 pm on Saturday.