By The Caribbean Camera Inc. on April 28, 2024
New students must acquire 2nd language to graduate says UWI Vice-Chancellor at Toronto gala
By Lincoln DePradine
Language proficiency for students to graduate from the University of the West Indies (UWI) –irrespective of their program of study – now has been mandated by university administrators.
UWI, in one of a few “very bold decisions’’, has declared itself a “multi-lingual university’’, said Sir Hilary Beckles, the university’s vice-chancellor.
“All students entering the university must acquire proficiency in a language other than English before they graduate,’’ Sir Hilary said Saturday in Toronto.
“We are offering our students African languages, Asian languages, European languages; they have a variety of languages from which they can choose to improve their proficiency before they go into the world as mobile young people.’’
Sir Hilary was in Toronto to participate in the 15th Annual UWI Toronto Benefit Awards. “Lighting the Way Together’’ was the theme of the gala fundraiser
MP Marci Ien, Canada’s Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, said the theme couldn’t be a “more appropriate’’, as “together means lifting as we rise; together means mentorship; together means learning from one another; and “together means moving forward with deliberate kindness and acts of empathy’’.
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