Access for all!

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Advocate - The new Kerryann Ifill Unit at the University of the West Indies (UWI) is one more step in the direction of making the university a fully inclusive tertiary educational institution.
Building upon the success of the already implemented Vision and Fortitude programme, in its 50th year of existence, the university is truly a ‘pathway to progress’.

Yesterday at the opening ceremony for the new Unit to cater to visually impaired students, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Principal of UWI Cave Hill Campus, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, posited that with these additions, the university will continue to raise awareness of persons with disabilities while creating a more accessible environment for them. He emphasised, “No one should be denied full access to our teaching.”

During the opening ceremony, he asserted that the University is serious about this development and way forward. He said, “When we rolled out the concept many years ago that our mission is to achieve at least one university graduate in every household, we meant that. We meant that seriously because we were aware that at the time there were 110 000 households in this country and most of those households were living in material poverty. So, when we said one graduate in every household we were targeting all the households – the rich, the poor, the medium rich, the medium poor.”