PM promises tax break for tertiary education

GOVERNMENT is moving full steam ahead to ensure tertiary education is accessible to all individuals by introducing several initiatives, including a tax exemption of up to $18,000 for students pursuing tertiary education and Value Added Tax (VAT) exemption for tertiary institutions. These announcements were made last week by Prime Minister Patrick Manning when he delivered a statement on his Government’s education policies in the Senate. Manning said if the tertiary education participation rate were to be lifted by at least 20 percent by 2010, no qualified national must be denied access to tertiary education simply on the “grounds of inability to pay for such education.”

Manning said his Government was “willing to provide opportunity for those who are qualified, willing to become qualified and possess the desire, and perhaps more, the determination to pull themselves up by their own boot straps.” He said in addition to the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (GATE), under which half the tuition for any student enrolled in tertiary programmes as public and private tertiary institutions would be paid for by Government, there is also the Higher Education Loan Programme (HELP). Manning said legislation will soon be established for HELP, which will replace the existing Students’ Revolving Loan Fund and the University Students Guarantee Loan Fund.

He said Cabinet had also agreed, subject to the approval of the Minister of Finance, that provisions be made for “a tax deduction for individuals up to $18,000 in respect of tertiary education and VAT exemption for tertiary institutions.” He said Cabinet also asked that he consider granting tax incentives to companies which contribute to HELP. Manning also disclosed in the statement that the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) will become operational in September this year, when the Trinidad and Tobago Institute of Technology (TTIT) begins enrolling students at the Point Lisas campus of the University.

Manning explained that it was the first phase of the UTT’s establishment which will involve the full integration of all TTIT facilities which support the range Bachelor of Technology Degree, Diploma and Certificate programmes. He said the location will be known as the Point Lisas Campus of the UTT. He said the next priority will be the establishment of Maritime Offshore Technology which will include a drilling school and an Institute for Maritime Training.