GATE launched at Hilton

The Ministry of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education yesterday launched the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (GATE) programme — a funding mechanism that will provide financial support for tuition fees for students pursuing higher education. Delivering the feature address at the launch, which took place at the Hilton Trinidad, Science, Technology and Tertiary Education Minister Colm Imbert said GATE was different to the Dollar for Dollar Programme since its purpose is to ensure the inclusion of everyone in the tertiary education process.

The four main objectives of the programme include making tertiary education affordable to all; to widen and deepen access to tertiary education; to build and strengthen both the public and private sectors; and to strengthen the national accreditation and quality assurance system so that citizens will be assured of access to high quality tertiary education at institutions in TT. Imbert said while the Dollar for Dollar programme suffered from other limitations such as being restricted to public institutions, GATE will apply to both private and public institutions, and will facilitate needy students by providing support for up to 100 percent of their tuition fees. GATE is scheduled to come on stream from the start of the 2004 academic year beginning in September, and both new and returning students will benefit from the programme.

Students of both public and private tertiary level institutions will be eligible to benefit from GATE. In the public sector, GATE will provide financial support for students pursuing courses of study at public institutions such as UWI, the TT Institute of Technology and institutions falling within the College of Science and Applied Arts of TT (COSTAATT). GATE automatically provides grants to cover 50 percent of the fees at public institutions, and while all students will qualify for this initial grant, this is only the first level of support. In the private sector, students pursuing courses of study at approved institutions will receive grants of 50 percent of their tuition, but this will be limited to a maximum of $5,000 per year.

The second level of support will be administered by way of a means test, and students who demonstrate their inability to pay the remaining 50 percent will be able to access grants of up to 100 percent of tuition fees. There is no age limit or other barrier for GATE as financial support can be obtained by all citizens of TT regardless of gender, age, ethnicity, religion or political persuasion, Imbert claimed. Stating that the beneficiaries of GATE would be expected to return some value for the funding received, students of the GATE programme would be bound by an appropriate period of national service, depending on the level of funding received.