Students to get Govt HELP

Abdul-Hamid said HELP would provide assistance for non-tuition expenses such as airfare, ground and sea transportation, personal maintenance costs and living expenses, books and related materials and even insurance coverage on the life of the student as well as tuition fees if applicable.

Students attending local institutions would receive a maximium of $25,000 a year while those attending Caribbean institutions would be entitled to $75,000 a year, the minister said. It would not apply to persons accessing tertiary education outside of the Caribbean.

The assistance would come in the form of a loan that would have a government guarantee, Abdul-Hamid said. He added that Government would pay all the interest during the period of study. The student would not be required to begin any repayment until six months after graduating. In even then Government would pay up to four percentage points on the interest of this loan. Scotiabank will be the trustee of the HELP funds.

Abdul-Hamid said students would be required to pass a means test before accessing HELP. They would also have to be pursuing a certificate, diploma, Associate Degree, Bachelor’s Degree, Postgraduate Diploma, Professional Qualifications (eg ACCA, CIMA etc) and Master degree and Doctoral degree at an approved local and regional public tertiary institutions.