The Mico's legacy poised to get richer

Paul H. Williams, Sunday Gleaner Writer

For 175 years, The Mico University College at 1A Marescaux Road in St Andrew, has turned out educators who have made significant contributions to Jamaica's economic and social development. Some of its notable graduates are Jamaica's first native governor general, Sir Clifford Campbell; former governor general of Jamaica, Sir Howard Cooke; Lady Allen, wife of governor general, Sir Patrick Allen, and the The Mico's current president, Professor Claude Packer.

"Germinating from a bequest of $1,000 in 1670 by Lady Jane Mico in Britain, The Mico has evolved over the period of 175 years into one of the most respected and recognised institutions of higher learning, research and leadership education in Jamaica and the region. Jamaica, the Caribbean, West Africa, and other nations have undeniably benefited from the foundations of higher education espoused by The Mico since its inception," the university college says.

Always being reinvented, it has evolved in many ways. It has been through the 1907 Kingston Earthquake and the 1911 Kingston Fire, a change of location and name changes, but one thing has remained constant, its commitment to producing men and women of excellence in teaching and leadership. And after nearly two centuries, The Mico has no intention of veering from the path of excellence. It is building on what it has already achieved, and with the passionate Professor Claude Packer at the helm, the future augurs well for this institution of high repute.

In addition to training in content and pedagogical skills, there is the professional enhancement programme that seeks to prepare students to behave professionally in the world of work. Another effort to improve the profile of educators soon to be implemented at The Mico is the Institute in Technological and Educational Research "because we are trying to change the research culture inside here. Any good teacher is a researcher". Action research thus is the thrust. Educators, Professor Packer says, need to investigate their students' performance, as well as contribute to the corpus of knowledge. "We have to research to inform policy and inform ourselves how to teach," he says.

"The goal of offering quality education and professional development, and its commitment to the advancement of spiritual, moral and cultural upliftment are in tandem with [our] rich and noble tradition. Given [our] strategic location in the nation's capital and [our] historical heritage, The Mico is poised to become a model that will epitomise the network that links tertiary institutions committed to teacher training," The Mico says.

Transforming into a premier university

The idea is to transform The Mico into a premier university for teachers, says Professor Packer, whose most significant achievement to date as president is the establishment of the pre-university men's programme, which caters for men who would otherwise, for many reasons, not be given the opportunity to undertake academic studies at an institution such as The Mico.

The Mico is also particularly proud of its pre-university early childhood programme, special education training at the undergraduate and graduate levels, The Mico Museums, training of literacy specialists, training in guidance and counselling, The Mico Child Assessment and Research in Education centres, the Caribbean Centre of Excellence in Early Childhood Education, for which a new building is soon to be erected at an estimated cost of $100 million.

The upgrade to a university college status in 2006 has seen the university expanding and diversifying at all levels. Its graduate programmes include the Master of Art in Teaching (MAT), Master of Science in School Counselling and School Social Work, Master of Education in Special Education, and Executive Master in Educational Management (EMEM) in collaboration with the Mona School of Business at The University of the West Indies.

"The Mico's conceptualisation of a university college is a comprehensive post-secondary institution which will offer a range of academic and applied programmes, including vocational and technical-education training in keeping with associate and four-year degree institutions," The Mico says. "Mico is committed to the continued upgrading of the content of subject offerings, and this mandate is integral to the college's strategic plan."

New programme

The EMEM is a particularly new programme tailor-made to train heads of educational institutions. "We are targeting educational leaders especially principals, because we feel that in this sphere, schools must learn and schools must not fail. Many of our schools are failing because of the leadership. Principals are finding themselves in trouble in managing resources. We must train them how to maximise the resources that they have, how to manage those resources well, and how to manage people," Professor Packer tells The Sunday Gleaner. In addition to the MAT and the EMEM, The Mico also grants a bachelor's degree in school management and leadership.

At this juncture of The Mico's history, Professor Packer envisions "a teacher who embraces technology, good values and attitude, is extremely knowledgeable in his field, has a drive for excellence, and can teach young people to be more nationalistic, and shares in Jamaica's vision for 2030", in essence, a teacher who will contribute to The Mico's rich legacy. This teacher is thus charged to 'Do it with thy might', as The Mico's motto says.