February 18, 2005

UWI....where do I begin????

(ah hope mi lecturers doan read dis blog!)

Anyway, I think I was short changed big time by my UWI 'education'. Imagine, I could sleep through many-a-class, don't do no extra reading at library and still come out with upper second class honours. And I wasn't no brilliant student. I thought the 2nd and 3rd years were very high-school ish in terms of their depth. And the first year....I left that year having passed (just!) Accounting WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT A DEBIT AND CREDIT WAS, T-ACCOUNTS, OR HOW TO DO A PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT!!

If that is not evidence of a poor education system, I don't know what is. The resources were inadequate (in Nassau where I did Hotel Management), forcing lecturers to use notes (out dated and old). It also wasn't practical enough in it's application I felt. They were teaching us to become managers in hotels, but I didn't feel confident enough to manage anybody when I left, and was happy when my first job offered me a job as a Management Trainee instead of the Asst F&B Manager I had applied for!

I just think UWI was, and still is, way behind its time. Imagine, in this day and age when all kinds of university is popping up, UWI does not offer a course which trains people how to teach adults. They only do education courses that teach you how to teach primary and secondary education.

I felt so strongly about the Accounts thing, that I used that as the subject of a short essay in my teaching course (and got a distinction for it). If you want to read that, see below. The language is not very verbose, so easy reading... and it's only 3 pages

Download file

Posted by yamfoot at February 18, 2005 11:52 PM
Comments

OK Yammie. I will agree with you that the UWI does have its deficiencies. I can't speak for all Faculties having been a student in two only...."Natural Sciences" (now Pure and Applied) and "Medical Sciences".

Let me say that your passing C (40-49) would not have been a Pass in Medicine. If at the end of the day, someone achieved 49% in med. school, they would need to attend for Pass/Fail viva exam to see if they could be hiked up to 50 or 51%.

Nevertheless, no examination system is perfect. Despite all the checks and balances that may hold for any subject area, there will every now and again be some that manage to slip through the system and "pass" without having learned very much.

Despite my saying this, having attained a B.Sc. (2nd Class Hons) and my MB.BS from UWI, it is an institutuion that I have a lot of respect for and I am very proud to be one of its graduates as it has moulded my career thus far.

I hope that wherever you decide to do your Doctorate that you will find the experience worthwhile and that the PhD will set you in good stead towards achieving your ultimate career goals. Even if you don't do so 'till 44 or even later in your life, we are never too old to advance ourselves by education and acquisition of knowledge. Peace to you. (Sorry for the long essay!)

Posted by: Dr. D. at February 19, 2005 11:13 AM

Yammie its not only UWI that like that. was reading an article on harvard the other day which said you can basically breeze in that place and that supposed to be ona de top schools worldwide. My education in canada was ok but I didnt like the way the teachers push up the marks so class average would always be 70 and I think that the teachers din really explain nuttin properly so I had to go off and teach myself things.
I got love fa UWI doah cause I've seen some of the folks they trained in the sciences and I think they get a great education.

Posted by: jdid at February 20, 2005 10:58 AM

Y'know, you may have something there, because I have always maintained that 'A' levels were the hardest exams I have ever sat in my life! At the same time we need to consider that there are people who say its way easier to pass 'A' levels when you sit them in England than if you sit them outside of England. Maybe they have a point there too...

Posted by: Mad Bull at February 21, 2005 07:23 PM