Dear Editor,

The Caribbean Centre for Educational Planning (CCEP) notes with deep sadness and a terrible sense of loss the sudden passing of our colleague and friend, professor of practice Dr Richard Bernal.

Professor Bernal has been involved with the CCEP since 2019. He offered his counsel and advice generously and was the keynote speaker at the CCEP’s inaugural conference in 2019. At that conference he addressed issues in higher education, among them employment opportunities of higher education graduates, competition among higher education institutions globally, education inequality, and opportunities to export higher education. Professor Bernal’s engagement with these issues reflected his clear grasp of the issues facing the education sector in the Caribbean and his bringing to bear his experienced global lenses.

In 2021, Professor Bernal was appointed a member of the CCEP’s advisory board, then under the chairmanship of Sir Kenneth Hall. Professor Bernal’s specialist role was that of subcommittee chair for business expansion and strategic relationships. In that role Professor Bernal was instrumental in initiating key alliances between the CCEP and global partners, a process which continued up to the time of his sudden passing, and under his chairmanship of the CCEP, which he assumed after Sir Kenneth Hall retired in early 2022.

Professor Bernal will be remembered for many things but chiefly his vision, warmth, humility, collegiality, and unassuming brilliance. His last public engagement on behalf of the CCEP was on December 8, 2022 at the CCEP’s sixth conference. The subject of this conference was Teacher Migration in Jamaica: Exploring Push and Pull Factors and Policy Options. In his opening remarks, Professor Bernal, in his signature solution-oriented worldview and communication style, challenged the participants to focus on the opportunities presented by teacher migration, which he said was “here to stay”, while taking steps to address the quality of classrooms which contribute to migration rather than being consumed with the impossible task of trying to prevent it. He thus implored that consideration be given to how policies and other strategies may be developed to meet the opportunities.

The CCEP extends its deepest sympathies to the immediate family of Professor Bernal at this most difficult time and trust that, as you grieve, you may find comfort, peace, and solace in the fact that he has made such an indelible mark on the world.

Canute Thompson

Professor of educational policy, planning, and leadership

Director, the Caribbean Centre for Educational Planning

ccep@uwimona.edu.jm