20,000 STUDENTS BENEFIT FROM GATE PROGRAMME

Over 20,000 students have benefited from the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (GATE) programme since its inception in September last year. According to Minister of State in the Ministry of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education, Satish Ramroop, another programme, the Higher Education Loan Programme (HELP) is being introduced to partner GATE in light of complaints from students over the rising cost of books and general expenses.  “HELP is to be a soft loan which provides further financial assistance for books, rent, food, or other general expenses. Coupled with GATE, this initiative, once implemented, will create maximum participation in the tertiary education sector,” Ramroop told Thursday’s opening of ACHEA’s (Association of Caribbean Higher Education Administrators) fifth annual conference at the Hilton Tobago.

The minister added it was against this background that Trinidad and Tobago was continuing to develop its student population, by further developing the distance-learning programme. He stressed that distance-learning was emerging as one of the key strategic investments that future-oriented universities were making, to respond to increased demand for access to tertiary education. Meantime, he reported that some 20,577 students had so far benefited from GATE, and it was expected that many more would do so during the new financial year. “Innovation and Action for Success in Higher Education” was the theme of the three-day conference which ended recently.