Hylton NEW STUDENTS of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus, have been challenged by Minister of Foreign Trade, Anthony Hylton to utilise opportunities provided by globalisation.
Minister Hylton was addressing the students last Wednesday as part of the Ministry of Foreign Trade's continuing public education programme on globalisation.
Speaking to the topic "Globalisation: Implications for the Caribbean University Student", Mr. Hylton suggested that as they pursue their academic career, they would face the challenge of "grappling with conflicting theoretical interpretations, some of which reflect inappropriate theories embodied in foreign textbooks".
"You will further face the challenge both in the natural and social sciences of developing your own theories to make sense of your own social and natural environment. Without this important work, the problems of Jamaica and the Caribbean will not be adequately addressed. Without this important work, our judgements about the best strategies to use to take advantage of the opportunities of globalisation and to address the challenge will be flawed, perhaps fatally flawed."
Mr. Hylton said that perhaps the most important challenge that the students would face from globalisation was the intense competition for jobs. "In this liberalised world economy, having a degree without acquiring a solid educational grounding will not be enough." Survival and growth in this new environment would increasingly depend on the learning ability of individual firms, countries and regions. By this he meant the building of new competencies and establishing new skills and not simply accessing existing information.
"Learning is vital not only in order to adapt to the rapid changes taking place but more importantly, in order to achieve creative processes, products and forms of organisation". Students entering the job market would also be challenged to fill the void that exists in the provision of critical professional services, he said.
The Minister urged the students to keep an eye on opportunities which exist under the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) which was an important part of economy. With global trends towards the rapid growth of leading knowledge-intensive industries, this sector would increasingly become a significant part of the Jamaican economy.
Noting that globalisation had produced the Information Age with the Internet presenting enormous possibilities, Mr. Hylton urged students to avoid the temptation of simply copying the ideas of others and presenting them as their own. Plagiarism will be penalised. This discipline was important as Intellectual Property is protected under national and international law. Further, it was important to note that if students unthinkingly repeat the established idea of others, "you only reproduce the status quo. For us to progress, it is important that you create your own ideas".
The minister also suggested guidelines for the students whom he described as the "future intellectual leaders of Jamaica and the Caribbean:
Choose substance over form students should choose courses wisely and avoid picking easy courses to ensure good grades. While good grades were important, it was a good education that would enable them to compete in the global market place.
Make education relevant keep in touch with the changing world.
Education must be multi-dimensional to meet the requirements of the new global economy for multi-skilled and multi-faceted individuals.
Be multi-lingual especially within the context of Caribbean integration.
Be tolerant to diversity especially with the creation of a "global village" which requires open-mindedness to people of a different colour, class or culture.
In his address, Mr. Hylton reiterated support for the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as being for achieving the region's social and economic objectives in the context of globalisation. They should both be established as a matter of urgency. He stressed to the students the importance of their generation understanding the debate so as to avoid another thirty years of discussion on this issue at a time when the rest of the world was moving rapidly ahead.
