Not enough $ for tertiary education — Montano

Tertiary Education Minister Danny Montano said yesterday that Government is not spending enough on tertiary education.

Montano was speaking at the opening of a workshop on quality improvement for tertiary education institutions organised by Premier Quality Services Ltd at Macoya. He said while Government contributes $250 million a year to the University of the West Indies (UWI) which has a student population of about 9,000 at St Augustine, it only contributes $23 million to the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago (COSTAAT) which has about 5,000 students. The Trinidad and Tobago Institute of Technology receives about $27 million from the private sector. “These are some of the very lopsided initiatives in our country and this must change,” he said.

Montano compared Trinidad and Tobago, which has a tertiary enrollment rate of about seven percent of the population with Asian countries, which have between 40 and 50 percent and the US which has a rate of about 60 percent. Montano said a Cabinet Note on the proposed University of Trinidad and Tobago has been passed to Prime Minister Patrick Manning. The note will establish a steering committee for the institution. In terms of areas of study, he said Government sees a definite need for the energy sector. The National Training Agency and NIHERST are assessing what needs other sectors have. Montano also said UWI needs to change. “UWI must rethink what it is doing,” he said. “UWI and its graduates must assume leadership roles in our society. While they are good, strong  and competent, they are not leaders of industry.”

He called on the private sector to help identify education needs. Montano said legislation to set up the National Accreditation Centre will come by June. Legislation had been drafted but Montano said he was not happy with it.