THE University College of the Caribbean (UCC), living up to its motto “Breaking new frontiers in higher education”, will be offering a Distance Education and Global Learning Programme by March 2006.

The programme is the first of its kind in Jamaica and the region, and uses a hybrid model that allows students to receive instruction via wireless cable network and free-to-air television.

It was officially launched last Thursday at the university’s New Kingston campus.

Chairman of the UCC, Winston Adams, told the gathering that this was the university’s way of providing Jamaicans with more worldwide access to higher education.

“There is now a greater demand for higher education in Jamaica, leading to persons migrating to the US and Canada to get the necessary skills to develop their career objectives,” he said.

He added that in the global context, while North American and European universities viewed distance learning as a means of bringing programmes to students throughout the world, the UCC would use distance learning to bring the world to its students.

“This will make the students privy to global perspectives, especially with the advent of the CSME,” said Adams.

He said that through a Global Virtual Faculty (GVF), students would be able to interact with professional instructors across the globe via video-conferencing, e-mail and internet discussion boards.

The university has forged a partnership with DC Digital Ltd and CVM TV to bring the programme to Jamaican students.

Newly appointed Director of the Distance Education Programme, Everton Pryce, said students enrolled in the programme would receive instruction through DC Digital’s wireless satellite cable network; CVM TV’s free-to-air television broadcast network; and face-to-face lectures.

“A 24-hour educational channel will deliver UCC modules and degree programmes through live and delayed broadcasts. Students can interact with lecturers during the lectures, via mobile and landline telephone,” he said.

Students enrolled in the programme would receive a code giving them access to the system, intended for all parishes except Kingston and St Andrew.

The private university, established in 2004, grew out of a merger between the Institute of Management Sciences (IMS) and the Institute of Management and Production (IMP), and currently caters to over 4,500 full-time and part-time students.