MOU to increase nursing enrollment
by Derrick Scott
WASHINGTON, DC – Northern Caribbean University (NCU) and Washington Adventist University (WAU) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding under which NCU’s nursing program will see enrollment increase from 110 to 1,000 students yearly.
Under the terms of agreement signed by NCU President Dr. Lincoln Edwards and WAU President, Dr. Weymouth Spence at the culmination of a two-day conference at the Embassy of Jamaica in Washington D.C. on Thursday, January 31st, students will do their first year at NCU and complete the next three years of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the DC-based WAU.
The program will begin next academic year, it was revealed.
The meeting in Washington was held as NCU, formerly West Indies College, looked at the way forward while preparing to mark it centenary this year.
NCU’s Dr. Lincoln Edwards said this exchange will provide greater opportunity for students to further their education and pursue their dreams. It will also give NCU the ability to increase enrollment in its nursing program which will, in the long run, enhance Jamaica’s healthcare system.
“Today’s signing is a landmark day for NCU and WAU, as we have now joined forces, which will redound to the benefit of our students and Jamaica.” He added that the MOU between NCU and WAU will provide tuition and accommodation to students who matriculate, and, after completion, they will be bonded.
WAU President Dr. Weymouth Spence, meanwhile, said his University was pleased to join forces with the Jamaica-based NCU to strengthen academic collaboration and expand educational opportunities. “We are further gratified that under the MOU students from Jamaica will have the opportunity under the Nursing Program to benefit from our academics.”
And, Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States, Audrey Marks, who brokered the agreement and witnessed the signing, said the MOU between both Universities fits in with the government’s objectives of full employment in finding ways of expanding opportunities for our people. “My desire is to see an expansion of opportunities for Jamaicans where they can come to work overseas and go back to their homeland with added experience to given back to their country.”
Ambassador Marks said this was a wonderful way of affording the opportunity for training and employment for 800 more Jamaicans. She stressed: “We at the Embassy are in full support of this venture and is excited to support NCU.”
Jamaica’s envoy to the United States added that for Jamaica to advance to a first world country by 2030, we must move the current level of our population having tertiary education to 50%. “This is not a massive gap to overcome in the next 11 years. It can be done if we effectively utilize the resources that are available in the United States and throughout the diaspora,” she said.
