KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — The newly chartered Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) on Tuesday graduated its first cohort of students to be certified since the institution’s formal upgrading in September.

Approximately 250 students were conferred with master’s and bachelor’s degrees and diplomas during the graduation ceremony at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston, having successfully completed studies in a wide cross section of programmes over the past four years.

These include Logistics and Supply Chain Management; Port Management; Cruise Shipping and Maritime Tourism; International Shipping; Customs Processes, Freight Forwarding and Immigrations; and Security Administration and Management.

Education, Youth and Information Minister, Ruel Reid, headed the dignitaries and officials attending the ceremony, which marked the first to be presided over by newly installed Chancellor, Drolor Bosso Adamtey I, and  President, Professor Fritz Pinnock

Reid, who delivered the keynote address, lauded the CMU’s staff and graduates on the milestone achievement, noting that “we are witnessing the fruits of many years of toil and nurturing”.

“I am very proud that the CMU is graduating over 250 internationally certified industry-ready graduates, who, I expect, will become leaders on the maritime and logistics landscape,” he said.

Noting that there is “great change and opportunity” evolving in tertiary education globally, Reid underscored the need for Jamaica to embrace these.

He argued that to successfully do so, “we have to adjust and change many of the traditional perspectives we have about what education is and… is supposed to do”.

 “A developing society, like ours, cannot afford to get stuck in a framework that defines education as a privilege for just a few. We have to educate and train all our people to achieve their fullest potential, consistent with local and global needs,” the Minister added.

Reid said that to this end, the CMU has a special role to play in reframing Jamaica’s higher-education landscape.

“The Caribbean Maritime University will have to be the benchmark for other specialist universities  [and] become a bastion of functional education outcomes. I believe that the CMU will shine in this respect. Jamaica, therefore, has high hopes for you, our fine graduates. You are among the next generation of leaders who (are destined to) make Jamaica proud,” he added.