Minister of Education Anthony Garcia has brought a note to Cabinet seeking to make adjustments to this country’s scholarship programme, including a potential increase in funding to international students.
Garcia said this in a brief telephone interview with the Sunday Guardian in response to questions about the scholarship programme.
“I brought a note to Cabinet with recommendations on the scholarship programme, based on the national consultation on education and in-house discussions which have taken place,” Garcia said.
The increase in scholarship funding is more than welcome to T&T students studying abroad, who have in the past complained of late payments, inadequate funding, and a delay in finding appropriate jobs on their return to this country.
One student, Keston Perry, who is currently studying in the UK, faced eviction from his landlord after the Government had failed to send several months’ worth of payments to his account.
In an interview with the Sunday Guardian, Perry, who said he was used to making “bad situations work,” said due to the amounts allocated to students in London it was sometimes difficult to find appropriate housing or to stretch the money to cover all expenses and focus on studies.
London scholars like Perry receive 794 pounds per month for living expenses. They also receive yearly allocations for educational supplies.
The Sunday Guardian forwarded a list of questions to the minister’s office and was later informed that these questions would not be answered.
PwC audit recommends increase in allowances
Whereas Garcia and ministry staff failed to provide a figure for a potential increase, the Ministry of Public Administration has commissioned a Scholarship Allowance Review done by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
PwC assessed the scholarship programme and recommended increases in allowances to meet the basic needs of students, according to the economic conditions in countries where scholarship recipients studied.
In some cases, such as the UK, increases of approximately 300 pounds were recommended.
The previous adjustment in fees was done in 2005. The changes to the scholarship programme would follow a sweep of changes announced by Garcia, intended to curtail expenditure for the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses programme (Gate) by eliminating wastage.
One of the more vague changes to the Gate programme included a decision to award funding to PhD students only if their areas of interest met this country’s development needs.
While the current structure for the scholarship programme is, on paper, aligned to this country’s development needs which were identified at the inception of the scholarship programme, these development needs are at a broad, macro level.
In reality, scholarships are awarded on the basis of merit and not development needs.
The Scholarship and Training Division (SATD) manages 20 scholarship programmes. These, on paper, needs are listed as natural sciences, social sciences, engineering, law and humanities and education.
Few jobs
for scholars
who return
While the number of scholarships has increased significantly since 2000, the difficulty in finding appropriate jobs for returning scholars has also increased.
In 2000, Government spent TT$96 million on scholarships which increased to TT$186 million in 2008.
From 2006 to 2012, the number of scholarships awarded annually moved from approximately 300 in 2006 to over 600 in 2012.
The SATD designed an Associate Professionals (AP) programme, as a transitionary job placement, to meet this demand.
This was meant to assist with certain challenges, as in 2008, the employment for returning scholars was assessed by the Ministry of Public Administration and it was determined that the Service Commission employed less than ten per cent of the scholars referred by the SATD.
A committee established by the SATD to look at the Associate Professionals programme noted that there were very few job opportunities for scholars on their return.
Scholars did not have work experience and often remained unemployed.
The AP programme was designed to provide interim employment opportunities for returning scholars to allow them to showcase their talent as potential employees and for the ministry to fulfil its obligations as outlined in the scholarship agreement.
As part of the scholarship agreement, the Ministry of Education must provide employment for returning scholars within a six-month time frame.
However, the AP programme, meant to be a stop-gap measure, was oversubscribed and faced challenges transitioning scholarship recipients into permanent positions.
Approximately 29 per cent of participants were unable to secure permanent employment following the programme’s two-year run, while about 89 per cent of those who applied for vacancies in the public service were not shortlisted for interviews due to lack of experience.
The SATD report also noted that 30 per cent of scholars did not return due to unavailability of job opportunities even though the scholarship agreement between Government and student indicated that the Government must provide opportunities.
There are currently 466 scholars pursuing studies abroad. Locally, there are currently 1,089 scholars pursuing studies.
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Terms of scholarship agreement
The terms of agreement between scholarship recipients and Government states that “the scholar is required to accept employment in the service of the Government in such capacity and at such renumeration as the lender may determine, for the prescribed period of obligatory service…
“The lender shall offer employment to the student within six months of reporting or completion of his or her course of study, whichever comes later.
“Should the lender fail to offer employment to the student within the six month period, the student must seek and remain in employment in T&T for a period no less than the applicable prescribed period.”
The prescribed period of employment varies according to the amount of funding awarded for the scholarship, with students receiving a scholarship of over $200,000 being required to serve an obligatory period of five years.
Students in the AP programme are paid a set rate of $8,000 per month whether they have a diploma, an undergraduate degree or a postgraduate degree.