Jamaica has descended to a place where civility to each other, in an alarming number of instances, is no longer practiced. Etiquette has been abandoned; courtesy, renounced. We still do not form a queue to enter public transportation, nor do we enjoy cordially greeting the stranger we pass on the street. Sad to admit, but we still turn a blind eye to the elderly trying to cross the street or the child who is being bullied or robbed. The chilling question that confronts us is: 'Is this what our future holds; is this the Jamaica that we want to retire in or die naturally in?'

For all well-thinking Jamaicans, the answer should be 'No!' We want more from our citizens. We want more from our government and more from those with whom we do business. We want more because more has been promised to us! So now that we agree that we want more, how then do we achieve more?

Beloved island

We need to have at least one bastion on this beloved island of Jamaica. We must brave the voices of naysayers who tell us that we cannot achieve greatness; excel beyond our limits, or fulfill our dreams. We must part ways with those individuals who accept negative behaviour and simply shrug them off as signs of the times. At Northern Caribbean University (NCU), we reject that posture. God has ordered for all of us a better life, a better place and a better way of treating each other.

At NCU, the programmes are strategically designed to transform lives and deliberately implemented to mould better citizens. Our practice is etched in ethical principles and based on universally accepted moral conduct. This philosophy underpins the curriculum. Our students are exposed to a programme of study that provides a paradigm for a complete lifestyle that prepares them to be model citizens in a world that's falling apart.

Our work in transforming lives is a matter of urgency. Educational institutions must follow suit to incorporate in their curriculum a complete approach to education - an approach that encompasses physical, intellectual, moral and social deve-lopment. This is the opportunity that is available to those of us who are in the field of education; we are the agents of change who can facilitate a more civil society.

Partnership

Students who attend NCU can attest to the partnership between the university and the communities it serves: all courses are service oriented. The inclusion of courses that promote proper moral, ethical and civil conduct is not just to provide a veneer or façade; instead, these courses are pillars in the palace of the lives we shape. The average citizen who witnesses daily, the barbaric levels of crime and violence in Jamaica, ponders whether God has abandoned us! Complete and balanced education provides an answer that encourages us to keep faith that God is always with us!

Don't get us wrong, the curriculum at NCU does not offer a cure at all, nor is it a quick fix. It is an option that provides an opportunity for a better Jamaica through its graduates.

If you have any doubts as to what we are suggesting, ask employers of NCU graduates about their experience with them. We are sure they will, in most cases, indicate a preference for NCU graduates. Our graduates' approach to duty and work is not loosely defined but already clearly understood. Employers happily proclaim that our students' exposure to hands-on training in such courses as mass communications and clinical ser-vice makes them more prepared. These employers may even add that our students are willing to do more and the fact that they take 'less talking to' as we say in Jamaica.

We want to live in a place where civility is the norm and not the exception. If it takes an educational institution to lead the way, then so be it!