President: Govt spending wisely on education

Addressing the opening of the new Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business on Monday night at Mt Hope, the President said, "The foundation of social and economic development and growth is an educated population and in today’s technologically driven world, an essential element of this is tertiary level education and training in technology, innovation and management. It has been repeatedly shown that there is a strong correlation between expenditure on education and economic development."

Richards observed that some nations in sub-Saharan Africa are classic examples of this premise, with low rates of investment in education and "correspondingly low levels of economic development." In contrast, newly industrialised Asian nations (such as South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia have come back from the brink of "the dilemma of development" to record spectacular economic successes because of their "high level of commitment to education." Hinting that TT should continue to follow this path, the President declared, "In these and other successful countries, the scientific and technological community and the associated institutions such as universities and business schools have been among the most critical resources for economic transformation. Since returning to office in December 2001, the PNM has allocated significant monies towards education in all national budgets, starting with the 2002/2003 Budget. Other major areas of expenditure have included health, housing and national security.

Expressing confidence that the new school will strengthen TT’s position as the region’s financial capital and an emerging knowledge centre in the developing world, Richards said the school will emerge as "the premier business education centre in the region" and assist initiatives now in train to increase the levels of student enrollment and quality of tertiary education at UWI, the University of TT and other tertiary level institutions. Recalling his advice to parliamentarians at last month’s ceremonial opening of Parliament last month, the President said efforts must be continuously made to develop a knowledge economy in TT, as knowledge is replacing physical resources "as the main driver of economic growth in many countries."

"A business school which can teach people how to manage complex and intangible resources will prove invaluable for the economy of the future," he stated. Richards also said the school and TT’s two universities can undertake entrepreneurial activities to improve national economic and social performance through research and development activities, spin-off firms and capital formation projects such as technology parks and business incubator facilities. "These three institutions must be geared to play these roles," the President added.