We are grateful that the University of the West Indies (UWI) has responded to our recent leaders suggesting a realignment of Jamaican government subsidies to the university to promote study in disciplines such as engineering and agriculture and to lessen the emphasis on social sciences and the humanities.

We have proposed, too, that we might want to spend less on the expensive training of doctors, a great portion of whom emigrate soon after becoming fully certified physicians.

As Carroll Edwards, the public relations officer at the UWI's Mona campus, recognises there is intrinsic value in debate, and there is no contradiction between this newspaper recognising and honouring the good work done by the university while challenging the institution to be increasingly relevant to the society which it serves.

Skewed enrolment

We acknowledge the UWI's clarification that of the first degree graduates from its Mona medical faculty last year, only 123 were doctors, approximately 200 were nurses and 15 were in basic medical sciences.

Indeed, no one, at least not to our knowledge, questions the need for graduates in these disciplines and the contribution of graduates in the medical faculty as a whole. But Ms Edwards' clarification serves to reinforce our argument about the skewed enrolment and outcomes of Jamaican students.

Based on the UWI's figures, a mere four per cent of the graduates who were in basic medical sciences go on to "to pursue careers in areas such as pharmacology, drug research, forensic sciences and biotechnology".

Yet, these are among the skills you would expect to be necessary in building a modern, productive economy with pretensions to developed-world status by 2030.

Indeed, the highlighting of our failure in training of Jamaican engineers and agricultural experts - of which there 28 and five graduates, respectively, from the UWI last year - served merely as a metaphor for a larger systemic failure and, in our view, a need for policy intervention to rebalance a badly skewed process.

Of course, we accept the importance to any society of graduates in the the social sciences and the humanities, but the issue at hand is proportion and how, in a circumstance, a society deploys limited resources.

In Jamaica's case, 75 of the 3,276 UWI graduates last year were from the social sciences and humanities faculties, where, like all students, they had 80 per cent of the cost of their education subsidised by taxpayers.

Broader policy mix

We believe it is prudent for the Jamaican government to begin to skew that subsidy in favour of science, engineering and technology disciplines, whose skills are tenable across a broader range of economic activities than, say, a graduate in literature or philosophy.

Nor do we presume producing graduates in these discipline to be an end in itself, but rather as an accompaniment of a broader policy mix.

We have, for instance, in the past called for tax incentives for investment in research and development, including contributions to scientific research at universities.

It is not our view that the UWI can, of itself, implement the rebalancing that we believe is necessary; that perforce is the remit of government policy action, informed by rigorous analysis and debate.

Public policy, of course, is not to bludgeon, but to be used like a scalpel in the hands of a highly skilled UWI surgeon, or an instrument being manipulated by its engineer.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.

A few errors were published in yesterday's editorial. The sentence "In Jamaica's case, 75 of the 3,276 UWI graduates last year were from the social sciences and humanities faculties...", should have stated "75 percent". Also the sentence: "Based on the UWI's figures a mere four per cent of the graduates were in basic medical sciences who go on to pursue careers in areas such as pharmacology, drug research forensic sciences and biotechnology", was incorrect as published. The sentence should have read, "Based on the UWI's figures, a mere four per cent of the graduates who were in basic medical sciences etc...". The errors are regretted.