JAMAICA | Caribbean's Oldest Teacher College Turns Publisher, Debuts with Garvey Scholarship

KINGSTON, Jamaica May 12, 2025 -  In a bold expansion that bridges its colonial past with Jamaica's intellectual future, The Mico University College—the Western Hemisphere's oldest teacher training institution—will launch its own publishing house tomorrow with a scholarly examination of national hero Marcus Garvey's educational philosophy.

The nearly 200-year-old institution's first publication, "Marcus Garvey: Pedagogy and the Power of Education," represents more than just another academic text. It signals The Mico's ambition to reshape Caribbean educational discourse while elevating indigenous scholarship often overlooked by mainstream Western publishers.

"The Mico is honored to inaugurate The Mico Publishers with a seminal work that elucidates the transformative potential of education," said Dr. Asburn Pinnock, President of the university college. What he didn't mention is how long overdue such Caribbean-focused publishing ventures are in a region still wrestling with the intellectual legacies of colonialism.

The launch event, scheduled for Tuesday from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM, features an impressive lineup of Caribbean intellectual heavyweights. Professors Clinton Hutton, Verene Shepherd, Rupert Lewis and Dr. Maziki Thame—scholars whose work has helped redefine how Jamaicans understand their own history—will participate in a book signing and public engagement session.

The event will be livestreamed globally at https://youtube.com/live/zZMjEU8HtTA, bringing Caribbean scholarship to a worldwide audience.

The timing of this publishing venture coincides with renewed government support for The Mico, following a May 7 visit by Prime Minister Andrew Holness that yielded a cascade of promises—from full university status through Parliamentary action to funding for speech therapy specialists and infrastructure improvements.

Holness' Teachers' Day visit produced commitments that, if fulfilled, would significantly enhance The Mico's capacity. The Prime Minister pledged support for the institution's five-year strategic plan and promised backing for a STEM and Business Incubation Centre.

This partnership with the STEM for Growth Foundation aligns with Jamaica's broader ambitions to become a regional STEM hub.

Perhaps most critically, Holness acknowledged the desperate need for speech therapy services at The Mico's Child Assessment and Research in Education Centre (Mico CARE). With over 1,300 children awaiting diagnostic and therapeutic services and not a single speech therapist employed in Jamaica's public sector, the Prime Minister committed to fund a bonded scholarship to address this glaring gap in special education resources.

The Prime Minister even waded into historic preservation, endorsing restoration of The Mico's landmark Buxton Building—a heritage site whose deterioration has long symbolized the tension between Jamaica's colonial educational foundations and its post-independence aspirations.

In a rare direct response to student concerns, Holness also promised streetlights for the notoriously dark Marescaux Road and a new yellow school bus to supplement The Mico's single coaster bus. These seemingly mundane improvements address serious safety concerns for students navigating the campus area after sunset.

Dr. Pinnock called the Prime Minister's commitments "a pivotal moment for The Mico and Jamaica's education landscape," though whether these promises translate into tangible support remains to be seen. The Mico has reportedly begun drafting proposals for university status and is working with government and corporate partners to advance the initiatives.

Tomorrow's publishing launch represents just one facet of The Mico's effort to reclaim its place at the center of Caribbean educational development. By focusing its inaugural publication on Garvey—whose pan-African philosophy emphasized self-determination and educational empowerment—The Mico appears to be reconnecting with radical intellectual traditions that once defined Caribbean scholarship.

For an institution that predates Jamaica's emancipation from slavery, this publishing venture may represent The Mico's most significant step toward intellectual independence in nearly two centuries of existence.

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