Renowned education administrator, Professor Errol Miller, has created history by becoming the first resident Jamaican to be appointed chancellor at one of the island's universities.

The English Trustees of The Mico University College, the oldest teacher-educating institution in the Western Hemisphere, have elevated Miller, the Jamaican trustee, to the top spot.

The University of the West Indies has as its chancellor, Professor George Alleyne, a Guyanese who lives and works in the United States; and, chancellor of the University of Technology is Bill Morris, a Jamaican who resides and works in England.

"The thought of being a chancellor had never once crossed my mind - I pleaded for time to discuss the matter with Dr Claude Packer and Dr Karl James, president and chairman of the board of directors of The Mico, respectively but the deal was already sealed - I had no option but to accept," Miller said.

Miller, who currently chairs the Electoral Office of Jamaica, believes his appointment comes at a time when people seem to be returning to the old view that what comes from abroad is better, that solutions reside outside of Jamaicans, and that people who decide on residing in Jamaica are of a lesser calibre.

Swimming upstream

"The Mico," he said, "is simply acting true to its character ... The Mico is swimming upstream against the tide and not downstream with the tide."

He added: "It is acting in the same manner as it did a century ago at founding of The Mico in 1835, with the purpose of educating the former slaves and training some of them as teachers."

Professor Miller said The Mico was acting in the same manner as it did a century later in the 1930s, when it offered the classics in its programme, allowing some students to obtain university matriculation and read for bachelor degrees as external students of London University.

The Mico gained university status in August 2006 by an Act of Parliament and is now offering undergraduate and post-graduate degree programmes. More than 2,000 students are currently enrolled at the 174-year-old institution.