Tweaking tertiary scheme

The Ministry of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education has created committees geared towards eliminating areas of duplication and possibly compiling various government initiatives, such as Dollar For Dollar and the SRL plan, into one overall scheme. This newer committee, called The Committee on Tertiary Education Policy, was started in May 2003 and is chaired by Teresa Davidson, Director of Research, Planning and Technical Services in that Ministry. Other members include representatives from the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance, the Tobago House of Assembly and private tertiary education institutions. The current committee, which was initiated by Cabinet decision, was given a three month deadline for making recommendations therefore no concrete resolutions will be available in  mid-July. There may also be a public forum for discussion but this is yet undecided. According to Michelle Boyd, Advisor to the Minister, the committee will be looking at “financing, management and co-ordination of the system as well as widening access.” “The government is very concerned about equity in the system” explains Boyd. “The Dollar For Dollar plan assumes the student has a dollar. What about those who don’t?” The committee is expected to be highly instrumental in the Ministry’s attempts to attain the goal set out by Minister/Senator Danny Montano to have a tertiary education graduate in every household.