In the debate about the proliferation of universities in Jamaica, one view that has not been aired so far is that powerful economic forces are responsible for this development. For several decades, there has been pent-up demand for university training because it was impossible for the then sole provider - University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona - to fill the relatively small number of undergraduate spaces with the significantly large number of applicants. This led some persons to seek their training abroad or to accept training in Jamaica in a second-choice profession.

UWI, Mona had not been proactive in establishing campuses in markets outside Kingston to satisfy this pent-up demand and this resulted in other Jamaican and foreign institutions establishing operations in these markets and taking market share from it. It is a positive development that a large number of Jamaican residents will no will no longer have to make the obligatory trip to Kingston to acquire this training.

University training

It is mere conjecture to suggest that an increase in the number of suppliers of university training has resulted in a lower-quality product; no research-based evidence exists to link the two. However, what is usually true is that an increase in competition in the marketplace for any product results in a higher quality product because producers have to create better products to attract consumers.

Let us not forget that the benefits of university training largely accrues to industry as the main reason people buy this training is to satisfy industry's need for specialised labour. In the long term, as far as Jamaica's economic development is concerned, a "real university" will be one that produces not only intellectuals, but also graduates who enable for-profit businesses to achieve their profit objective.

I am, etc.,

MARK JOHNSON

johnson.mark17@gmail.com

Georgia, USA