U.B. president addresses graduates in Punta Gorda town

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Punta Gorda, TOLEDO. Thursday, June 14, 2018. The following is the address delivered by President of the University of Belize, Professor Emeritus Clement Sankat at the graduation for the Toledo campus.

Let me at the outset welcome all of you to the PG Campus of the University of Belize for this our Annual Graduation Ceremony.  I want to especially thank our Chairman of the Board of trustees who travelled from Belize City to be with us this afternoon. I also wish to express my delight that his Worship, recently elected Mayor A. McKenzie for taking time to be with us and to be our keynote speaker.  Mayor Mckenzie is no stranger to University of Belize, as he is one of our young, outstanding Alumni. Congrats Mr. Mayor on your recent success at the polls.

I warmly welcome the graduands and their dear ones to this graduation day in Punta Gorda.  We congratulate you and celebrate your success.  I know that you have worked very hard and diligently to be here today, and hence you deserve our applause.  But every successful student needs support, and hence I salute your parents/guardians/husbands/wives, all your loved ones who made the necessary sacrifices to ensure you succeeded at the University of Belize. (Applause) Your success is our success also at the national University of Belize and hence I ask you to join me in applauding our Faculty led by our Deans and Campus Administrator Mr. Roy Polonio and his staff, for the tremendous work they have done, in sometimes trying situations, to enable your “Crossing the stage” today.

I am advised that the graduating cohort from Punta Gorda this year represents 88 graduands, overwhelmingly female 2:1!  Well done ladies but Mr. Mayor we need to get more males from the Toledo District coming through the University.  This is a matter that requires an urgent intervention so as to ensure balance in our social demographics and the building of an equitable society for Belize.  So to our male graduands here you need our special applause for beating the odds and understanding the importance of a University education, so as to ensure your own progress and that of Belize.  And to the young males of Belize who are listening, and to your parents also, do consider a University education as an investment in your future success as happy, responsible and contributing members of Belizean society.

In this graduating class, 70% are going to receive Associates Degrees, 15% Bachelors’ Degrees and 15% Certificates and Diplomas. Nearly 48% of our graduates are from the Faculty of Education & Arts (FEA), 40% from Faculty of Management & Social Sciences (FMSS) and 12% from the Faculty of Science & Technology (FST).  All our Deans together with the respective Faculty, both full-time and adjunct, must be saluted for this effort.  My hope is that more students from this District must be prepared at the Secondary level and be encouraged to pursue careers in especially in Science & Technology at the University of Belize.  I am very pleased to note that two students completed the programme “Certificate in Agriculture”, and you have created history, UB’s first graduates with this Certificate. Congrats!

And so to the residents of this district of Toledo, we want to assure you that the University of Belize is on a trajectory to provide more opportunities for tertiary education, as after 18 years of formal existence, this is a time of change.  A time for this National University to leap to another level, fulfilling its promise and its mission, for giving young Belizeans the hope for a better quality of life through a University education that is fulfilling as it is memorable.  In the last year we have produced the highest number of graduates, 1147.  But while doing this, we have also completed our Transformational Plan, Vision 2022 – and that will provide more diversity to our program offerings, more at the Bachelors’ Level and even some at the Masters’ Level. These are therefore exciting times of change at the University of Belize – change that can only bring value and opportunity for our most important stakeholders – our current and future students.  Our Transformational Plan speaks to our 4 R’s – Reaching out, Responding, and connecting with our stakeholders, being Relevant as well as being Responsible.  We see the Punta Gorda Campus as an essential element of the University’s Infrastructure, in our attempt to reach out to all of Belize.  However, the University of Belize cannot meet the expectations of this Transformational Plan without your support, from all our communities and from the country, Belize.  We appeal to you in the Toledo District to support your National University, as we say “Let’s Build UB together”.

Congrats once more to our graduands, our parents and loved ones and to our Faculty and Staff.

 

Professor Clement Sankat

President

14^th June, 2018

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