WITH classes at the Mona campus already suspended, heads of the University of the West Indies (UWI) are giving the assurance that all was being done to protect its staff and student population against the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.
Addressing the media on Friday during the Cave Hill Campus’ Council meeting, Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Hilary Beckles said significant impact was anticipated in the short-term, “especially for our Masters students who are engaged in the payment of fees on the semester by semester basis”.
“Outside of that, the students who are being funded by the governments, will not be impacted in the short-term, but it could have implications going forward,” he stated, noting the UWI would be seeking to retool its staff by training them further in online teaching.
“We are going to be investing resources in online training, online technology, so we will have to find some resources to create the ideal circumstance for ensuring that our faculty members are now dual mode teachers. So, yes, it will carry some cost as we adjust to the new environment,” he said.
Sir Hilary also revealed the university was engaging in the critical research needed to find a vaccine into the virus, which has been confirmed in several Caribbean islands including those with UWI campuses such as Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Antigua and Barbuda.
Meanwhile, while there have been no confirmed cases in Barbados, he said when this happened Cave Hill would work with the Ministries of Health and Education here on the way forward. This, he said, was the strategy for all campuses across the region.
“We do not wish to make decisions that would compromise government strategy or the economic structure of the country, so we are moving hand-in-glove with all of our stakeholders that we make these decisions collectively,” he added.
Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the Cave Hill campus, Professor The Most Honourable Eudine Barriteau, said The UWI was offering multiple platforms of assistance and working with the governments to combat the impact of the virus. (JMB)