Education must Serve to Liberate, says PM

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Millers says the age we are living in demands continuous education and a philosophy based on lifelong learning and has called on tertiary institutions, in particular, not to only pass on technical knowledge, but seek to inculcate a passion for learning which serves both personal and national liberation.
She was speaking at the UTECH Alumni Hall of Fame Banquet on Thursday (July 27) at which five of its members were honoured. Mrs. Simpson Miller said that institutions like UTECH must continue to build a culture of learning which stimulates intellectual curiosity and quality character.
Education, the Prime Minister said, must bring about mental and cultural liberation; build confidence and assertiveness in people as well as foster a strong sense of identity, creativity and integrity.
“Education must enable us never to succumb to the notion that excellence, virtue and success are beyond us or determined by others or things foreign”, Mrs. Simpson Miller noted.
She congratulated the five UTECH Alumni honourees- Minna Israel, Nancy McLean, Hugh Scott, Sean Paul and Dennis Johnson, describing them as remarkably creative and resourceful individuals, who have been pace-setters, displaying in their lives the kind of confidence, inventiveness and resilience which are critical ingredients of success.