UTech opens campus in Montego Bay

Claudia Gardner, Assignment Coordinator

WESTERN BUREAU:Member of Parliament for St James Central Lloyd B. Smith has charged the University of Technology (UTech) to integrate itself into the constituency and to make a difference through research and development there.

Smith made his comments during the official opening of the UTech's Western Campus at Dome Street in Montego Bay last Friday.

"When I became member of parliament for the new virgin constituency of St James Central, what hit me very hard was that my very greatest assets in my constituency were the educational institutions. I have no hotels, no factories - a few scammers, yes," he quipped. "But I primarily have some of the best schools in Jamaica, and today, to put the icing on the cake, I am here to welcome the UTech."

"I hope we will remember that education is the greatest liberating force. One of the challenges I throw out to UTech is to not become an island in the stream. Become fully integrated into the Montego Bay society," Smith said.

The MP said for many years, residents of Montego Bay, and western Jamaica by extension, had little or no opportunities to acquire university education and that he was happy to now see a turnaround.

"I am one of those persons who, over these many years, has lamented that Montego Bay, for many, many decades, lacked what I used to call an intellectual base. In other words, we were lacking in the sort of extensive learning experience that could enable our citizens to become intellectually developed," he said.

"Today, we have so many universities represented here in western Jamaica, and, in particular, in Montego Bay, but I am sure what UTech brings to the table is of tremendous significance, and so, I am very happy," Smith added.

Minister of Education Ronald Thwaites, who was keynote speaker at the event, said the programmes offered by the university must be influenced by the training requirements of citizens in the west.

"The coming of UTech in full splendour to Montego Bay marks another aspect of the maturity of this city. I trust that this university will be demand driven. Citizens of Montego Bay must be able to come here and ask for courses that they want in order to be able to advance their lives not only to receive a pre-packaged programme from Papine, from Mona, or from Oxbridge," Thwaites said.

According to acting Principal of the UTech Western Campus, Professor Geraldene Hodelin, the institution initially operated from Kent Avenue in Montego Bay, but the inherent limitations of that location restricted campus activities to mainly the conducting of classes.

She said as interest in programmes grew, there was a resultant growth in student population, which resulted in the need for improved services to students and staff, as well as to establish a base for reaching out to the institution's partners in education, community building, and social development in Montego Bay.

Hodelin said while Dome Street did not have the acreage associated with the main campus at Papine in St Andrew, the building had been repurposed to fundamentally meet the needs of "an ambitious educational environment".

"I believe that we do not need to be a large, spread-out campus with all the bells and whistles to provide quality education for clients," she said.