Michael Lee Chin's gift of $155 million to the Northern Caribbean University (NCU) to build a new, well-equipped wing of the university's school of nursing is an important development on several fronts, not least for the potential it can unleash.

Of course, this is not the first time that someone in corporate life has made a donation to a Jamaican institution, educational or otherwise. And neither is Mr. Lee Chin new to philanthropy.

Indeed, through his company, AIC Fund Management, Mr. Lee Chin has made endowments to museums and universities in his adopted home of Canada. Additionally, his National Commercial Bank (NCB) in Jamaica has paid the examination fees for high school students in business-related subjects as well as used some of the earnings from its proprietary credit card to fund education-related initiatives.

In this case, he is endowing an institution at the family seat in the south-central town of Mandeville and as he has done in at least one instance in Canada, having the facility named for his mother, Hyacinth Chen. Importantly, too, he has put the money in a field in which Jamaica has shown it has competence and expertise and where he believes the country can enhance its already significant global impact.

Indeed, there is no gainsaying that Jamaican nurses are in demand in countries such as the United States, Canada and Britain. Recruiters from these countries are often here enticing local nurses with salaries and working conditions which can't be matched in Jamaica, especially public sector hospitals and other health institutions. This is among the reasons for a severe shortage of nurses in Jamaica.

Mr. Lee Chin apparently believes that a state-of-the art nursing school as part of the NCU, in relatively quiet and peaceful Mandeville, can attract foreign students, particularly from North America. That may be possible, although there has been no great rush to the profession in recent times by U.S. and Canadian citizens.

In any event, if this school opens the door to the training of more nurses at higher skill levels, some of whom may even emigrate, there will be value to the country. For part of the problem faced by health institutions is our inability to graduate sufficient nurses, especially in critical specialities, to replace those who leave each year. Moreover, Jamaica operates in a global market in which the mobility of labour is on the rise. It is by lifting standards all round, including the quality of people's lives, that we will lessen the inclination of Jamaicans to seek opportunities abroad.

A critical component to driving economic growth in any country is the quality of the education and training of its labour force, which, at its base, is what Mr. Lee Chin's endowment addresses. In a way, his action is part of the response to the concerns raised by Douglas Orane about low productivity in Jamaica.

Perhaps, Michael Lee Chin's gift to the NCU will provide a model, and incentive, for other high net worth Jamaicans to follow. Which, of course, is not to suggest that others do not already give; for many do!

What is perhaps needed is a new, structured approach to corporate philanthropy, an issue being addressed by the University of the West Indies with its own endowment promotion activities and serious conferences on the subject.

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