Their Excellencies Honoured for Contribution to Tertiary Education

Their Excellencies, Governor General, Professor Kenneth Hall and Mrs. Rheima Holding-Hall, have been honoured by the University Council of Jamaica (UCJ) for their counsel and contribution to the Council’s board and to the development of tertiary education since 1996.
UCJ’s Executive Director, Ethley London, in her remarks at a special function held today (Sept. 21) at the Council’s offices on Oxford Road, spoke of Professor Hall’s invaluable work as a 10-year member of the Council’s Board of Directors.
“We respected his calm and sobering advice [as] the board benefited from that. We also respected his vision for tertiary education policy-making which culminated as a Mona Conference on Revisiting Tertiary Education Policy,” she noted.
Dr. London said she regarded the policy document “as one of the best documents on education policy-making and what the vision for tertiary education should be…and I hope it will be reflected in all the transformation that is taking place in the education system, especially at the tertiary level”.
She remarked further, that the Governor-General’s work with the UCJ still sets the tone for the Council and had assisted them in broadening the scope of their mandate.
Turning to Her Excellency’s contribution, Dr. London said that Mrs. Holding-Hall was “an outstanding member of the UCJ’s Fine Arts Board of Studies and the Joint Committee for Tertiary Education,” which she chaired from 2001 to 2003.
Taking the opportunity to congratulate Professor Hall on his appointment as Head of State, UCJ Acting Chairman, Dr. Rae Davis, said the start of Professor Hall’s term as Governor-General “signaled a new paradigm in terms of national governance and we look forward to a period of stimulating leadership”.
Meanwhile, in a response on behalf of himself and Mrs. Hall, the Governor General thanked the Council for recognizing them. “We consider the UCJ [and] tertiary education in particular of great importance to Jamaica.”
He added that he was encouraged that the organization had approached them for their complementary input to the UCJ Tertiary Education Transformation Report. “The service in this organisation was well worth our while and if opportunities avail themselves from time to time, we will be happy to work with you,” he told the members.
The Governor-General charged the UCJ board to blaze new trails in tertiary education transformation, stating that “the work that you have started and is doing is incomplete, and if we can help in any way, we will”. Professor Hall further pledged to use his voice to assist the Council in achieving its various objectives.
Before assuming office as Head of State, Professor Hall served as principal of the University of the West Indies, Mona, while Mrs. Hall was a director at the Mona School of Business.