Mark Beckford, Staff Reporter

WINSTON ADAMS, executive chairman of the University College of the Caribbean (UCC), is calling on the government to find the money to finance private tertiary institutions.

According to Adams, debt financing has undermined investment in education in the last 30 years.

"Our education system is living largely now on past investments," argued Adams. "There has been a substantial decline in the financing of higher education that has put some amount of pressure on higher education in Jamaica."

Adams, who was speaking at a recent Gleaner Editors' Forum, wants the Government to provide some level of grants, subsidies and tax incentives for private institutions.

"There is no more important policy with regard to the financing of higher education than the need to provide financing, or partial finan-cing, through the State," he said.

There are currently more than 25 private institutions offering tertiary education in the island, with some based overseas.

In 2002, Adams acquired the Institute of Management and Production, creating the largest privately held higher education conglomerate in Jamaica, with a combined annual student population of approximately 5,000, and an annual operating budget of just under $600 million.

"This (state financing private institutions) could have implications for the amount of funds, public funds, that would be available to finance local domestic public tertiary institutions. One might argue that the funds would be spread too thin to finance public tertiary institution."

Double-edged sword

He added, "It is a double-edged sword, but by and large, I think it is a composite and comprehensive approach, and one needs to look at it," he said.

Adams said tertiary education provides a plus for the island and private and public stakeholders should combine efforts to strengthen the sector.

"The benefits from higher education are clear. There is certainly a universal advantage in terms of national development and wealth creation. It must be a public- and private-sector mix in the financing of higher education," he said.

The 2009-2010 Supplementary Estimates showed a mixed bag for the two state-funded universities in the island, the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the University of Technology (UTech).

Tertiary education is allotted just over 15 per cent of the education budget, with the UWI and the UTech receiving 81 per cent of the tertiary budget.

The grant to the UWI was increa-sed by more than $99 million, raising the total to $7 billion, while the UTech got $80 million less, bringing its grant to more than $1.8 billion.

The grants for 15 other institutions, which include teachers' colleges, the Edna Manley School of Visual and Performing Arts, and the College of Agriculture, Science and Education, were all increased.

Adams has outlined several proposals for the Government to pursue to broaden its financial and social commitment to tertiary education.

Higher education funding

These include a proposal for a law to be passed requiring the Government to allocate a set per cent of the general tax revenue to higher education.

In addition, Adams wants a fixed per cent of the revenue from the Education Tax to be allocated to higher education. He said this should be in addition to the fixed per cent from the general revenue.

The educator also wants at least five per cent of the capital budget invested in higher education, while he argued that there should be a greater effort to continue the formal education of adults.

mark.beckford@gleanerjm.com