Students waiting on free education

The private students, especially those who are pursuing post-graduate courses with foreign affiliated universities, are especially concerned since they are uncertain if their courses will qualify for Government funding.

Minister of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education, Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, reassured last week that the measures promised in the 2005 Budget will be put in place before the start of the new semester. He also promised that the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with private institutions will be ready so that private students will benefit. Government promised to fund free tuition for undergraduate to postgraduate courses at all Government tertiary institutions, but the details of the funding to private institutions were to be worked out in the MOU. Robin Maraj, executive director at the School of Business and Computer Science (SBCS) in Champs Fleurs, told Newsday that the PTIs held discussions with the ministry and a draft MOU was formulated. He was hopeful that the measure would take effect this semester, but said they had to wait on the finalised MOU from the ministry.

A number of the courses offered at the SBCS are affiliated to foreign universities and students are required to pay both local and foreign fees. Maraj was unable to say what measures would be put in place to assist those students, but he said students pursuing the 20-odd courses which were GATE approved would most likely benefit from the new measure. Maraj said in the interim students will be required to pay their fees and be reimbursed accordingly later.

Vice-president at the Caribbean Union College (CUC), Dr Hamil Tobias, told Newsday they were also awaiting documentation and were operating as the SBCS. He said they were however assured by the ministry that the CUC was a centre for free tuition and because their courses are GATE approved, all will most likely be offered free to students when documentation is received from the ministry. Registration at CUC begins next Monday. Most parents were depending on the measure to be in place and, therefore, did not cater for having to fork out the thousands of dollars required for tuition fees. However, because the ministry has not finalised the documentation, tertiary institutions are forced to request the tuition fees from students. Many parents have complained to Newsday about the ministry’s delay. Only one public institution, the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago, has said it will not accept fees from students and follow the Budget promise.