Canadian Government’s Project to Strengthen Distance Education in the Caribbean (SDEC)

The main objective of the Government of Canada’s Global Affairs Canada (GAC) Strengthening Distance Education in the Caribbean (SDEC) project, is to contribute to reducing unemployment in the region by increasing the number of graduates – women and men – from the UWI Open Campus who contribute to the socio-economic and cultural development of the region.

The CND 31.062M project is sponsored mainly by the Government of Canada that agreed to contribute CND 19.260 M over five years (2013-2018) to the project. Other project partners are the UWI Open Campus with a contribution of 7.658M (in-kind contribution – CIK), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), 3M and the Jamaica Universal Service Fund (1.144M).

The project has four main goals: developing and promoting programmes that are market demand driven and are attractive to women and men thus shifting the Campus to a more gender balanced space; and building the institutional capacity of the University to improve leadership, change management, organisational structures and processes; strengthen its financial and technological capacity and improve infrastructure planning and management capabilities.

These improved capabilities will enable the UWI Open Campus to serve persons who have limited or no access to post-secondary education facilities, Internet services and personal computers. Working adults with families, who need flexible ‘class time’ and payment plans will also find the UWI Open Campus an attractive alternative to attending regular classes, especially if their option is to travel overseas. The University will also be positioned to serve a wider population in the Caribbean region and beyond who will be better able to boost the development of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), the Caribbean Diaspora and the world.