THE UNIVERSITY OF BELIZE ANOTHER PRESIDENT WALKS THE POLITICAL HIGHWIRE IN A CONTINUING SAGA (by Norris Hall) The University of Belize continues to be on life support as the Ministry of Education and an incompetent Board of Trustees lock horns with yet another President of this faltering Institution. Given the present uneasy state of affairs and the repetition of conflicts between the Ministry of Education and successive Presidents of UB, one needs to again question the competence of the Minister of Education and the Ministry in manipulating the functions of the University with political dictates rather than guiding its role to meet the developmental needs of the country. There are evidently no guiding policies established by the government as to how it perceives the role and functions of this State-owned Institution to prepare a high caliber cadre of young men and women that will be able to fill the demands across the board to meet the development expectations of this nation. MISGUIDED Misquided as they are by the Ministry of Education and the University’s unqualified Board of Trustees, there is also a serious divide among the faculty, some of whom have been politically appointed and with questionable credentials, while others have passed the professional litmus test for the delivery of higher education. As was envisioned by the Musa Administration which gave birth to the Institution, the vision was that the University of Belize was to become the premier centre of higher learning and to provide the opportunity for more young Belizeans to attain a high quality of tertiary education to prepare for the professional world of work. However, under the present Barrow Administration and with the failure of the Ministry of Education to establish policies to guide the role of the University, successive Presidents have found themselves in conflict with a clueless Ministry of Education.They have all tried to establish meaningful guidelines which are persistently shot down by the political directorate who seem to be too myopic to comprehend a long-term vision for the University beyond a short-term political agenda. In a letter to the Minister of Education, the current President of the University dared to walk the political plank by saying: “There is a lack of a long term vision for the University’s institutional development.” NO VISION The Minister of Education has persistently failed to articulate government’s vision (if there is one)for this institution with a clearly defined set of policies to guide the University in its role. The persistent conflicts between the Ministry of Education, the Board of Trustees of UB and successive Presidents and even the faculty have become debilitating. The Board of Trustees does not appear to have a Terms of Reference. In any case they have misplaced their role as they try to usurp the authority of successive Presidents and in attempts, at the Minister’s behest, to manipulate and micro-manage. To add to this state of affairs, where conflicts and chaos reign at the expense of the student body, is the fact that the government has persistently reneged on its annual budget allocation to the University, which is a paltry $2.5 million annually. Despite the current dysfunctional state of affairs at UB, parents and students are still expected to meet the higher demand for education cost while quality falls almost below the level of even mediocrity. Yet, against all odds there are a number of students who have managed to excel despite the continuous political hanky-panky and interference. This is proof that if left alone to do their jobs, a qualified faculty could fulfill the national functions of the University. But no matter how well these students do, unless UB receives some sort of accreditation from a reputable university abroad, its academic awards will hardly be recognized. A CONFRONTATIONAL GOVERNMENT A member of the faculty, who does not wish to be identified, commented that the fundamental problem with UB is that the present government “is very confrontational”. In a not too subtle reference to the Minister of Education, she made an off-the-cuff comment in reference to the Minister of Education: “If you have an ego bigger than your brain, disaster follows.” There is clearly a total disconnect and discord between the Ministry of Education and the University. There continues to be overbearing political interference and manipulation with indifference to real issues and concerns faced by the University in the current political climate which includes disrespect for professional educators. The government has actually downgraded the entrance requirements to get into the University so as to serve a political agenda encouraging mediocrity as opposed to the thriving for high standards of excellence. A fundamental issue in the current conflict is that the politically appointed Board of Trustees is weak, does not understand its role and is therefore not contributing to the advancement of the University. The President has stated that there are important policies that need to be clearly articulated to ensure that the University is seen as functioning according to international standards. His remarks have fallen on deaf years. FROM ANTS NEST TO SNAKE PIT Since the University of Belize was established, it has changed five Presidents in thirteen years, three of them since the Barrow Administration came to office in 2008. It has also changed nine Provosts for the same period. Given this dismal statistic, there is serious reason to ponder the future of the University in the current climate that has been created by this government. Unless the Minister of Education takes a serious review of the independent role and functions of the University and its contribution to Belize’s development and with clearly defined road maps and educational policies (and there are none), every future President will be performing a circus act of walking the high wire and eventually finding him/herself progressing from an ants nest to the political snake pit. We were told that the current President declined overtures to work as a part of the political machinery during the last general elections. He declined for obvious reasons: As a professional, he did not want to become involved in dirty partisan politics and wanted to maintain his professional integrity while ensuring that the image of the University would not be tarnished. This created a major fallout with the political operatives. This may explain the optics displayed on television by the Chairman and his Board of Trustees who have over-stepped their bounds trying to function in a vacuum. The Minister of Education does not have much of a backdrop to lean on given the scathing and even embarrassing Inter-American Bank Report, which was published last year on the the collapsing system of education in Belize. It is dismal. Yet the Minister, who likes to make pronouncements without putting his brain into gear, has not publicly addressed this issue, nor has he responded to the iDB report. A COLLAPSING EDUCATION SYSTEM The current President of the University has been attempting to assist the government in drafting a clearly defined chart for the University. Some of his professional observations, has independently dovetailed into the analysis by the IDB on the many shortcomings which are leading to the collapse of the country’s education system. A part of this has to do with the Minister’s confrontation with the churches in trying to manipulate the appointment of teachers. In doing so, he has disrupted a long and mutual partnership between the church and the state in education. The President asserted that there is too much political interference by the politically appointed Board of Trustees. Last year, all the political interference resulted in a virtual shut down of the University during a one-day protest by its faculty and staff who demonstrated against corruption and mismanagement by the University’s Board of Trustees. ONLY THE POLITICALLY CONNECTED NEED APPLY This has not phased the Minister of Education. It has now emerged that faculty and staff appointments are based on political connections with secondary regard for qualification and confidence. An individual who has recently been appointed Dean of one of the University’s faculty has taken an unusually very long time and is yet to present his doctorate credentials. The type of PhD. qualification has also been another debate in the UB academia over the ability to teach at this level. It has been commented that “there has been so little exposure to the range of scholars qualification.” It has been alleged that, like some members on the Board of Trustees ,some members of the faculty have displayed a lack of social skills and a broad outlook in addition to allegations that some lecturers “cannot function in standard English.” MYOPIA BUT BEYOND THAT TALENT This government, because of political myopia is missing a great opportunity to tap into the vast talent bank of the diaspora. There are more than a handful of Belizeans living abroad who have excelled in academia as well as in the arts and sciences. These highly skilled people want to give back to Belize. This is a great opportunity for the Minister of Education to tap into this resource to form an academically qualified team of professionals who have excelled abroad to serve on the University’s Board of Trustees. We need these people, regardless of their politics.Most of them are apolitical professionals. But the Prime Minister has indicated that he is more interested in your politics rather than your skills. The government should be prepared to pay for their travels and accommodation for an annual Board meeting. It would be worth the while. As it is, there are lots of wasteful spending on overseas travels for Ministers and other government officials without any accountability. They go on junkets like tourists in foreign lands with nothing to show for it. The government and the Minister of Education are messing around with the future and the future of our bright young people and the future this country. The by-product will be a workforce of morons. But there is always a future for that type of talent. It is in politics-UDP style,where there is currently a terrible shortage of brain but lots of brainless power.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 21:32:24 +0000
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