Tewarie: Rethink education in TT

UNIVERSITY of the West Indies (UWI) Pro Vice Chancellor and Principal of UWI’s St Augustine campus, Dr Bhoe Tewarie, yesterday stressed there was a fundamental need to rethink education in Trinidad and Tobago. Addressing a news conference at the Hilton Trinidad about a Critical Thinking Symposium scheduled for today at UWI, Tewarie observed: “We are living in a world that is not new but is very very different. Change, transformation and renewal have become the norm.” Dr Tewarie added that within this new contemporary age, “schools, educational institutions and learning systems have in fact become the drivers of capacity building.”

He explained that within this ever-changing world, “there is need to rethink everything we do in the education sector including a re-examination of the fundamentals in education.” Tewarie said the timing of the symposium was apt given UWI’s efforts to reposition itself as a major stakeholder both locally and within the region and thus shift away from “the ivory tower” image it has been linked to in the past. The UWI Pro Vice Chancellor stressed the need to maintain authenticity within an increasingly globalised environment and find ways to “manage quality and relevance in education. Colonial Life Insurance Company (Clico) is one of the three-day symposium’s major sponsors.