Will free tuition take effect January 1?

The Opposition also called on the Minister of Finance, Prime Minister Patrick Manning, and the Minister of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education, Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, to immediately make a definitive statement on its promise of free tertiary education.

In a release, the UNC stated that thousands of students at public tertiary institutions were required to pay tuition fees this semester because these institutions had received no word from the Government.

The UNC said that the announcement by the Minister of Finance in September would have obviously caused students to plan their finances in accordance with that promise. "It would seem that this is yet another PNM promise that, like many others before it, has fallen by the wayside," the UNC stated. Saying that the situation placed severe stress on students and parents, the UNC said some students may be unable to register for the second semester.

It added that in some cases students had been forced to scramble at the last minute to approach banks and other lending institutions to raise the money to pay their fees.

The Opposition recalled that in his Budget speech Manning promised that with effect from January 1, 2006, all nationals enrolled at public tertiary institutions would be eligible for free tuition.