Imbert: $5,000 grants for needy students

SCIENCE, Technology and Tertiary Education Minister Colm Imbert said students enrolled at private tertiary education institutions will be eligible for grants up to a maximum of $5,000 per annum and these figure could be increased once the Accreditation Council of Trinidad and Tobago becomes operational. Addressing yesterday’s post-Cabinet news conference at Whitehall, Imbert recalled that in January, Cabinet replaced the Dollar for Dollar Programme with the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (GATE) programme.

“Under this programme, half of the tuition for any student enrolled in higher education programmes in public institutions will be automatically covered by the Government as well up to the entire amount for needy students. This is in public institutions. The Government also agreed to finance tuition in private institutions. In order to achieve this, we must first have an approved list of private institutions of higher education. One of the fundamental institutions that will be required to put this into effect is the Accredit Council of TT,” Imbert explained. The Accreditation Council of TT Bill 2004 will be debated in the House of Representatives today and Imbert said he was optimistic that the Council will be fully established and operational by July or August.

“In the interim, in order to facilitate applications from students for tuition support who wish to undergo their education in private institutions of higher education, Cabinet agreed that grants will be made to the students at private institutions of higher education up to a maximum $5,000 per annum. This is the average grant made to students of public education,” the Minister disclosed. However, Imbert added that this “is not the end of it.” “That is the first phase. As we develop the accreditation council and as we receive applications from institutions of higher learning for the approval of their programmes, we will review this figure and we will upgrade this figure as it becomes necessary,” he said.