UTT to get $250M boost for 2005

GOVERNMENT has allocated $250 million to finance operations of the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) in the next fiscal year. Already some 1,400 students have enrolled in degree programmes, which will begin at UTT’s Point Lisas campus in September. This was disclosed by Science, Technology and Tertiary Education Minister Colm Imbert when he addressed a news conference at the Hilton Trinidad yesterday. He also noted that UTT’s overall prognosis was very healthy at this time. When asked what levels of funding his Ministry would be seeking in the upcoming 2004/2005 Budget to finance UTT’s ongoing and planned initiatives, Imbert said Cabinet had already allocated $250 million to handle administrative and other logistical aspects of its operations, and funding will be sought to construct student dormitories at the university’s proposed campuses in Point Lisas, Wallerfield and Mayaro.

Declining to say whether his Ministry had requested any additional funding from the Finance Ministry, Imbert said emphasis was being placed on “ironing out the kinks” in other initiatives such as the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (GATE) and the Multi-Sector Skills Training (MuST) programmes to ensure they work efficiently. He said UTT’s main campus at Wallerfield would be operational by January 2007 while its other satellite campuses would be functional by 2008. The Minister said UTT’s Mayaro campus would be built in Galeota, close to a new terminal being developed there by Australian energy company BHP Billiton. A team from the Ministry will soon be leaving for Tobago to hold talks for the establishment of a UTT campus there, and he was hopeful that campus could be built within one year.

oting that Cabinet allocated $600 million to establish UTT over the next four years, Imbert said, “It is important that this institution is not merely viewed as a single entity in the Government’s undertaking to develop our nation’s human resource capital, but as part of the development of a seamless education system and the development of an innovative higher education structure. The mission of UTT is to develop industry-ready graduates, promote innovation and facilitate wealth generation and sustainable employment creation.” He said all persons desirous of pursuing tertiary education will have access to UTT and this was in keeping with Government’s efforts to increase participation in tertiary education from the current rate of 10 percent to a rate in excess of 25 percent.