Any country that wants to be strong must have a strong university base.  This was the message of the Prime Minister of Jamaica, the Most Hon Portia Simpson Miller when she opened the ACU Conference of Executive Heads in Kingston, Jamaica on November 9.

In her remarks, at the University of the West Indies, the Prime Minister welcomed the emphasis of the conference on performance indicators in higher education. She recognised that, sensitively handled, such rankings can strengthen the culture of transparency, quality, and inform better decision making from students and other stakeholders.  There was concern, however, that to be relevant rankings should be aligned with the aims of universities in their particular regions.  In the case of the Caribbean region, these included the need to equip students with critical thinking and practical skills, produce research that was both accurate, capable of implementation and countered the brain drain which had affected the region for many years. There was a need to be sceptical of measures which did not take such aims into account.

The programme (and presentations available to members) can be accessed here.

Photo courtesy of The Jamaica Observer newspaper