Coosal Chairman urges UWI grads to use knowledge to create wealth

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“In this new world order, the way we have been taught to classify countries as rich and poor, developed and developing, those with emerging economies need to be redefined/disrupted now and right here. We need to change our mindsets if we are to move forward.”

Handing down this advice as he addressed the 2021 graduating class of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus yesterday, Group Executive Chairman and Managing Director, Coosal’s Group of Companies Sieunarine Persad Coosal called on them to use their imagination, young fertile minds, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship skills to create wealth for the benefit of all locally and abroad.

Coosal was among 14 people from across the region to receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree (LLD) in this year’s graduating class.

Among those graduating were CNC3’s news anchors Khamal Georges and Ria Rambally who both graduated with Distinctions as they attained their Masters, Business Administration as well as Guardian Newspaper Lead Editor News Irving Ward who graduated with a Distinction for a Postgraduate Diploma in Sports Management.

Tobago East MP and Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, Ayanna Webster-Roy also graduated with a distinction, Master of Institutional Innovation and Effectiveness.

During the virtual ceremony yesterday morning, Coosal sought to reinforce to his fellow graduates that Trinidad and Tobago had the potential to become a sustainable global economic powerhouse.

He said the future of T&T and the wider Caribbean hinged upon this fourth industrial revolution in which we now live, which included the age of automation and artificial intelligence.

Claiming this was, “rapidly disrupting the status quo of every facet of our daily operations in real time,” Coosal said, “We can only have a strong Trinidad and Tobago and Caribbean when all sectors of our society such as the public sector, private sector, the educational sector and the CBOs/NGOs come together with one common agenda.”

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CNC3 news anchor Ria Rambally EMBA (with Distinction)

He urged, “It is for you graduands to lead such an initiative and to ensure this happens.”

Coosal said education and skills training are the foundations on which the bricks and mortar of a developed society are laid.

“You have chosen the right path and started to build the right foundation by pursuing a higher education degree, but you must not and cannot stop here.”

He added, “Education and skills training is like a continuous train journey, with stations along the way. You need to continuously get on and off the train at different stages in your life.

“We are now living in a knowledge society, driven by the knowledge economy, where the new natural resource is no longer silver, gold, oil, or gas…but knowledge. Knowledge, fuelled by the powers of the human imagination.”

Coosal said questions needed to be asked as to where T&T and the Caribbean were in this new world order, and what was needed collectively as a society to reach that point.

He reminded that citizens are now living in an interconnected global village brought about by the rapid advances.

“We cannot afford and must not always play the catch-up game. Our policy creators and decision makers in government, as well as the private sector and civil society, will be constantly turning to the educational sector…yes, your knowledge, research and innovation and skill sets, to ensure this country and region and the world at large remain sustainable for generations to come.”

Meanwhile, Valedictorian Weston Maharaj commended the graduating class for their perseverance and commitment as he said, “This was no easy feat. We faced trials and tribulations that past graduands, certainly not in the recent past, would never have imagined.”

This is the second year that the UWI’s traditional graduation ceremony has been replaced with a virtual alternative.

Recalling that everything came to a screeching halt when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Maharaj said, “Our health was in jeopardy from an invisible enemy as we tried to navigate the new normal. The academic norms we were accustomed to from infancy were thrown out the window for viable alternatives. We were forced to adapt.”

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CNC3 news anchor Khamal Georges EMBA (with Distinction)

Admitting that when faced with one of the biggest crises of their lives that jeopardized their dream of attaining degrees, the graduates, “changed our mindsets, our methods of learning, and plans for achieving our goals,” Maharaj added, “We persevered and challenged ourselves to do better. We were resilient and looked to the future. We showed support for each other during the trying times.”

Urging them to believe in themselves and know they can achieve anything they set their minds to, Maharaj went on, “No matter what was thrown in your paths to stifle your progress, you were able to push past those barriers and conquer it all. You were all disciplined, focused, and motivated. It is my hope that these qualities remain with you for the rest of your lives. Whenever you are faced with a difficult issue or decision, I want you to look back to this time, when you endured a multitude of pressures and failures, and recall how you overcame every adversity, and the feeling of fulfilment when you finally succeeded.”