The Caribbean Universities Project for Integrated Distance Education: Collaborating to overcome the difficulties faced by Small Island Developing States

Christine Marrett
Distance Education Centre, UWI

Stewart Marshall
Distance Education Centre, UWI

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     Last modified: October 20, 2006
     Presentation date: 10/31/2006 4:00 PM in ST Windsor B
     (View Schedule)

Abstract
Human resource development is a primary concern of governments in the Caribbean region, with increased participation in post-secondary education viewed as an important aspect. The Caribbean Universities Project for Integrated Distance Education (CUPIDE) seeks to increase access to tertiary education in the Caribbean region by developing the distance education capacity in each of five universities: The University of the West Indies, the University of Technology, Jamaica, the University of Guyana, the University of Suriname, and the University Quisqueya (Haiti).

The development objective of the CUPIDE project is to develop the human resources within the region through enabling each of the five participating universities to develop and deliver quality distance education programmes using information and communication technology. In this way, the competitiveness of the region in general and the institutions in particular will be enhanced, participation in the knowledge society increased – not only as users, but also as generators of knowledge – and cost savings realised in the use of the technology for distribution of the course materials and the teaching and administration of programmes. Clearly, collaboration among the participating institutions is a key to the success of this project which re-defines and bridges linguistic, political and cultural boundaries in higher education.