Close to 60 people showed up on Saturday for a discussion on the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (Gate) programme at the Learning Resource Centre, University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine campus.
The majority of them were students attending the tertiary institution who raised a wide range of concerns. The UWI has a student population of about 18,000. The public discussion, Future of Gate, was hosted by the UWI Guild of Students.
In March, Education Minister Anthony Garcia announced a 15-member task force to review the policy guidelines of Gate, make recommendations to cut costs and set a criteria for eligibility of programmes and institutions. The task force is expected to submit a report next month.
Guild president Makesi Peters is on the task force. One female student said: “I want to know what they plan to do in order to improve these programmes to encourage people to be innovative and creative in their job solutions.”
But another female student from one of the islands said she felt that Trinidadians were too dependent on their government. She said the university was there to help educate students in their relevant disciplines.
“An individual needs to not put the onus on the government or the university towards your specialisation. No offence, but I think Trinidad individuals look towards the government for a lot of things, too many things,” she said. She said it was time to stop the blame game.
Another student questioned why she had to repay the government if she started a programme at one institution, left without graduating and started at another institution.
She was told by a Gate representative that practice was considered wastage, something that was prevalent and that government was trying to stop.
Another student said ten years ago the UWI was not accepting 18,000-plus students and that with the “sprouting” of many other institutions. She added, “Perhaps consideration should be given to regularising the number of students at tertiary level to avoid costs.”
She said many students were starting tertiary programmes right after getting five subjects and that some were unsure about what they really wanted to do and would end up leaving their first programme.
Peters said when Gate started in 2004, it was geared towards ensuring that T&T developed a knowledge-based economy. He said the policy was geared to serve all the people of the country and to offer them an opportunity to receive a tertiary education.
“When we talk about wastage and people using the system, everyone gives an insight into that, but we need to look at other aspects as well,” said Peters. He said the Gate programme now needed to identify who were the most vulnerable people in the society who really needed funding to pursue tertiary-level studies.