The Vice-Chancellor’s Forums are a series of public presentations, organized by Vice-Chancellor Beckles, which foster ongoing discourse among regional and international experts about an array of topical issues.

The forums provide insightful analysis, perspectives, and context to significant political, social, and economic occurrences both regionally and globally.

In the reporting period, the forums addressed such pertinent topics as Artificial Intelligence, the Bridgetown Initiative, Gender Justice, and the impact of the Patterson Commission Report in reshaping Caribbean education.

TRANSFORMING CARIBBEAN EDUCATION

On July 21, 2023, The UWI, in collaboration with the Caribbean Centre for Educational Planning (CCEP), hosted a Vice-Chancellor’s Forum to discuss the Orlando Patterson Commission Report. The Report, which presents a comprehensive review and assessment of Jamaica’s education system, was examined by regional education experts during a two-hour hybrid event.

Several regional experts delivered addresses, including Chair, Reverend Ronald Thwaites, former Minister of Education in Jamaica; Ambassador Richard Bernal, Chair of the Advisory Board of the CCEP; Dr. Canute Thompson, Head of the Caribbean Centre for Educational Planning at The UWI; and Professor Silvia Kouwenberg, Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Education at Mona Campus.

The conversation centred upon the implications of the findings and recommendations of the Orlando Patterson Commission Report for the education system in Jamaica and elements of the report which may be applicable across the Caribbean.

There was also heavy emphasis on matters such as societal and economic justice, inclusion, communications technology, equity for differently abled students, and a more accessible scope of language that eliminates the elitism of English-speakers.

Dr. Canute Thompson revealed direct correlations between participation in tertiary education and a country’s innovation index and quality of social life measured, among other things, by the murder rate.

Feature presentations were followed by a panel discussion and question and answer segment which included several regional subject matter experts.

AI AND CHATGPT IN HIGHER EDUCATION – GUARDRAILS, NOT BANS

With the eruption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT, higher education experts are concerned about where these tools fit in the academic space. As such, a Vice-Chancellor’s Forum focused on “Artificial Intelligence (AI): A Blessing or Curse for Higher Education”. Held on May 9, 2023, it placed education experts on a panel to discuss the unfolding issues. Pro Vice-Chancellor, Board for Undergraduate Studies, Professor C. Justin Robinson, organiser and moderator for the forum, opened the session introducing the topic on behalf of Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles.

The consensus of the panel was that it is neither blessing nor curse. Instead, as observed by panel member, Ms. Patti West-Smith, Director, Customer Engagement Team, Turnitin, it provides the opportunity to “improve the quality of work for educators and meaningfully impact the learning outcomes for students”.

The panel cautioned that AI tools are dependent on information produced by others and as such are inherently biased. They also discussed the extreme option of banning AI from higher education on the grounds that the tools could constitute cheating and encourage unoriginal thinking, but the experts were unified in their position that with the technology already in use and expected to continue, the idea of banning AI tools likely comes from a place of fear.

Instead, it should instead be used strategically to empower students to think originally and critically, and they should be given guardrails around how these tools could be used effectively and ethically.