PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):
GOVERNMENT'S FREE tertiary education programme estimated to cost TT$352 million (US$56 million) a year kicks in today.
Under the programme, thousands of students at local and regional tertiary institutions will not have to pay tuition when the new semester begins.
This disclosure Wednesday by Minister of Science Technology and Tertiary Education, Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, has brought sighs of relief to students who were panicking because of government's silence on the matter.
The minister's assurance, which came at a news conference in Port of Spain, follows complaints from University of the West Indies (UWI) St. Augustine Principal, Dr. Bhoe Tewarie, that he had not been informed of the plans, which was announced by government last year.
Tewarie had requested an exact date for the implementation of the programme but Abdul-Hamid said he had spoken with the UWI principal on the matter, and both were "in a comfortable place" as students had another two weeks before they were required to pay fees.
Students who have already paid for the whole academic year will be reimbursed.
"I have spoken to some of the public tertiary institutions already, indicating the guidelines of the policy. We hope to get those letters as early as Friday afternoon," the minister said.
Minister Abdul-Hamid said free tuition will be available to all T&T citizens pursuing undergraduate programmes at the Cipriani College of Labour and Cooperatives Studies; Corinth Teachers' College; Costaatt; Hugh Wooding Law School; Metal Industries Company Ltd.; National Energy Skills Centre; T&T Hospitality and Tourism Institute; UTT; UWI (St. Augustine, Cave Hill, Mona and Bahamas campuses), and the Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica.
Students going under what is now termed a 'revised Gate (Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses) Programme' will be required to sign a student agreement, obligating them to work in the public or private sector over a period of time determined by the amount sponsored.
