The pursuit of higher education is supposed to create opportunities, empower individuals, and help working people build better futures for themselves and their families. For many of us, the University of the West Indies (UWI) Global Campus represented exactly that opportunity: the chance to pursue a university degree while maintaining employment, supporting our families, and managing the responsibilities of everyday life.
However, recent policies and administrative decisions have raised serious concerns about whether the needs and welfare of working students are receiving the consideration they deserve.
Many students enrolled at UWI Global Campus because of the flexibility it offered. We are not all full-time students who can dedicate our days to attending classes and examinations on campus. We are employees, parents, spouses, caregivers, and individuals working different shifts to make ends meet while investing in our education. For us, flexibility is not simply a convenience; it is often the only way we can pursue a degree.
The introduction of proctored examination software is one area that deserves greater scrutiny. Students should not be expected to compromise the security of their personal computers or feel uncertain about the software they are required to install to complete their examinations. If such software is mandatory, students deserve clear information about its security, privacy protections, technical requirements, and potential impact on their devices. What safeguards are in place to protect students’ systems and personal information? Have students been adequately informed of the risks and provided with practical alternatives where genuine technical concerns exist?
Another growing concern is the repeated increase in fees. Higher education is already a significant financial commitment, particularly for working adults who must balance tuition with household expenses, transportation, childcare, and other responsibilities. When fees increase from semester to semester, students deserve transparent explanations of these increases and a clear understanding of the value and services they are receiving in return. Access to education should not become increasingly difficult for the very people striving to improve their circumstances through it.
There are also concerns about communication between students and lecturers. When students ask questions because they need clarification about assignments, examinations, or course requirements, they should receive reasonable guidance and professional responses. Students should not be left uncertain about what is expected of them, particularly when their academic performance and progression depend on understanding those expectations. Effective communication is a fundamental part of the educational experience, not an optional courtesy.
Perhaps one of the most significant concerns is the implementation of face-to-face examinations for students who enrolled in a programme that offered the flexibility to study while working. For students who work full-time, live far from examination centres, or operate on rotating shifts, attending an examination in person may require taking time off work, arranging childcare, paying additional transportation costs, and reorganising family responsibilities.
Not every employer readily accommodates repeated requests for time off. Some employees may face strained workplace relationships or fear negative consequences when they need to be absent. Students should not have to choose between protecting their employment and fulfilling their academic obligations.
This raises an important question: what consideration has been given to the realities of the working population when these examination arrangements are introduced? While universities have a legitimate responsibility to protect academic integrity, that responsibility should also be balanced against accessibility, practicality, and the circumstances of the students they serve. Where secure digital examinations are technically and academically appropriate, should they not remain an option for students who cannot reasonably attend in person?
The concern is not that students should be exempt from reasonable academic requirements. Rather, it is that policies should be developed and implemented with a proper understanding of the people expected to comply with them.
The recent request for students to complete another form and make another payment for identification documents raises further questions about administrative accountability. Students who previously completed the required process and paid for their identification cards, but have still not received them, are now being asked to submit information again within a very short period and pay again.
What happened to the original payments? Why have the identification cards not been issued to students who already fulfilled the requirements? If the university needs updated information or has changed its procedures, why should students automatically bear an additional financial burden for an administrative process they previously completed?
Students deserve a clear explanation of what happened to their original payments, whether those payments have been recorded, and how the university intends to resolve outstanding identification card requests. A new deadline and a new payment requirement should not replace accountability for an earlier transaction.
Taken together, these concerns raise a broader question about the student experience at UWI Global Campus. Are the financial, technological, academic, and administrative demands being placed on students adequately balanced against their welfare and circumstances?
It is understandable that a university must manage its operating costs, maintain academic standards, protect examinations, and update its administrative systems. However, these responsibilities must be accompanied by transparent communication, appropriate consultation, and reasonable consideration for students. Institutional procedures should support the educational mission, not create unnecessary barriers to achieving it.
Working students have made sacrifices to pursue their degrees. Many attend classes after a full day of work, complete assignments late at night, study on weekends, and continue despite financial pressures and family obligations. They do so because they believe education will improve their lives and create better opportunities for their families. Their commitment should be recognised, not overlooked.
UWI Global Campus should therefore engage meaningfully with students and address these concerns through clear explanations and practical solutions. This includes providing transparent information about fee increases, ensuring that mandatory examination software meets appropriate security and privacy standards, improving communication between lecturers and students, considering accessible examination alternatives, and resolving outstanding identification card payments without unfairly charging students twice.
The university should also explain how major policy changes are communicated, whether students are consulted before implementation, and what channels exist for students to raise concerns and receive timely responses.
This is not a call for lower academic standards or an exemption from university rules. It is a call for fairness, accountability, transparency, and a student-centred approach to higher education.
The people pursuing degrees through UWI Global Campus are not merely tuition payments or registration numbers. They are individuals investing their time, finances, and energy in an institution they trust to help them achieve their educational goals.
If the flexibility that attracted working adults begins to disappear, and if administrative requirements, costs, and examination arrangements become increasingly difficult to manage, the university risks undermining the very accessibility that makes its programmes valuable.
The question is not whether students should be expected to meet university requirements. The question is whether the university is equally committed to meeting its responsibilities to the students who make its work possible.
Working people should not have to sacrifice their jobs, jeopardise their financial stability, or repeatedly pay for services they have already paid for simply to obtain the education they worked so hard to pursue.
UWI Global Campus must listen to its students, explain its decisions, and demonstrate through its actions that student welfare remains an essential part of its mission. Education should open doors for working people, not make those doors increasingly difficult to reach.
