Claiming that abuses prevail within the Government Assistance for Tertiary Education (GATE) programme, acting Prime Minister Colm Imbert says a comprehensive review of the initiative is to be carried out by the Ministry of Education.
He said that during his address to the National Consultation on Education yesterday at the Teaching and Learning Complex, University of the West Indies, St Augustine.
He said the ministry had been mandated “to undertake a comprehensive review of GATE to determine whether we are getting value for money and whether GATE funding is focussed on satisfying our national development needs or whether the whims and fancies of some students.”
Government spends approximately $650 million to $700 million annually to fund education expenses through the GATE programme.
It will be done by a broad-based committee comprising representatives from the Chambers of Industry and Commerce, T&T Manufacturers Association, the University of the West Indies, University of T&T and others.
Imbert said that committee “will look at the efficiency of GATE and make recommendations to improve our system of free tertiary education.”
He then advised Education Minister Anthony Garcia “to move with dispatch to establish your committee and let the Government know what the people think about what we should do about the GATE programme.”
Imbert said the People’s National Movement Government remained committed to ensure that the programme “remains accessible and available to all who need it.”
However, he said, that must be weighed against the reality of a petroleum-based economy facing “the adverse effects of a collapsing oil prices.”
He appealed to the large audience to make recommendations on “the approach that should be adopted (by the Government) to prevent manipulation of the GATE system.”
According to Imbert, some successful GATE applicants “do not complete their (approved) programme of studies and just move from programme to programme accessing GATE as professional students.”
He said other students “spend more time on extra-curricular pursuits rather than studying and then insist that they be provided by GATE funding indefinitely.”
He said that was a tremendous cost to taxpayers, adding that the Government must determine “whether we are inadvertently subsidising the training of our people to work overseas.”
He raised the issue of GATE beneficiaries proceeding to work in the United States and Canada as soon as they graduated rather than in T&T.
“These are questions that must be addressed and answered,” he insisted. The minister said the idea of means testing for qualification for GATE should be discussed at the consultation.
Imbert also said reviews were to be carried out on the Concordat and the issue of Government-funded scholarships.
He said another committee had already been established to look at matters relating to national scholarships. According to Imbert that committee is looking at the manpower and development needs of the nation to determine fields of focuss for further scholarships to be granted.
He said it would also make recommendations on how to end the problems beneficiaries have in accessing funds to pay their respective institutions.
Imbert said the consultation must also examine the granting of scholarships on the basis of the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE).
Imbert, who is also the Finance Minister, said the Concordat—an agreement between the Government and the churches for the management of the schools—must be reviewed to determine how school infrastructure would be funded.
Imbert and the Education Minister was among the Cabinet ministers who attended the event which was hosted by the Ministry of Education.
Garcia said the Education Act should be reviewed and amended to make it more effective. He also said that religious leaders and the parents must play a more meaningful role in the education system.
National Parent Teacher Association (NPTA) president Zena Ramatali said she wanted to know where in the Education Act there was a provision for a test to be administered before a child can be accepted in a primary school.
President of T&T Unified Teachers Association Devanand Sinanan said there was need for an education policy in the country and the politics should be left out of it.