Government has spent close to $3.7 billion on funding citizens to pursue tertiary education and technical and vocational studies since 2010.
But with the current climate of falling oil and gas prices, the economy is not as vibrant and robust as years gone by.
For a while now, there have been rumours circulating that the programme, which is managed by the Funding and Grants Administration Division (FGAD), would be “cut.”
Many are waiting with bated breath to hear of changes, if any, to the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (Gate) programme next Monday when the 2016 budget is presented by Finance Minister Colm Imbert.
A 2015 national policy framework document on the tertiary education sector states that the primary driver of public funding in the tertiary education and skills training sector is recurrent expenditure to public institutions. Led by this factor, total public funding within the sector has increased from over $3.3 billion in 2010 to over $3.5 billion in fiscal 2015.
These figures represent a seven per cent increase in funding over a five-year period.
Apart from Gate, Government has dispersed 15,810 loans under the Higher Education Loan Programme (Help)) within the FGAD. Help is a low-interest loan facility which provides financial assistance for tuition and non-tuition fees to students who have been accepted and enrolled in approved programmes. Since 2010, $295,582,694 in loans were granted.
Also, through the Financial Assistance Studies programme, 145 grants were distributed since November 2013, totalling $5.4 million.
The new Government has repeatedly said it would not cut the programme. In fact, its policy on Gate as stated under the heading Education, of its manifesto, is “To ensure that the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (Gate) system, which we created in 2004, remains relevant, easily accessible and available to all citizens who need it.”
188,023 students
access Gate
In the 2006 budget, delivered on September 28, 2005, then prime minister Patrick Manning, who was also the Minister of Finance, said the Gate programme had replaced the Dollar for Dollar Education Plan in September 2004.
He had said, “In my 2005 budget statement I indicated that we intended to provide free tertiary education in public institutions by 1 January, 2008.
“Since then, our revenue situation has improved considerably. I am therefore pleased to announce, Mr Speaker, that with effect from January 1, 2006, all nationals of Trinidad and Tobago enrolled at public tertiary institutions, namely UWI, UTT, Costaatt and other institutions where the Government sponsors students, will be eligible for free tuition, that is free public tertiary education.”
Former minister of Tertiary Education and Skills Training Fazal Karim said he will be disappointed if the Gate programme were cut.
He said, “I will be disappointed if they cut the Gate programme because you cannot build the capability and the capacity and competence of a country if you emasculate the talent and do not give the opportunity and the access to persons to pursue education and training that will improve all the quality of lives.”
According to the FAQs on the Gate Web site, students who accept funds will be bound by a period of national service that will be linked to the value of the Gate funds received.
Since 2004, 188,023 students have had access to Gate funding.
Director of the FGAD, Teresa Davidson, said she was on vacation and was not in a position to respond to questions.
Economist: Spend $$ on those who need it
Against the backdrop of falling oil and gas prices, calls are being made to revamp the programme.
Economics lecturer at The University of the West Indies, Dr Daren Conrad said last Wednesday Gate needed to be “more targeted.”
Speaking at a lecture hosted by the Department of Economics and Trade Development Unit, UWI, St Augustine, Conrad said, “I cannot rationalise in my mind, how a student with a GPA of 2.0 getting the same allocation with someone with a 3.9 GPA.
“That is unfair. You have to be a bit more targeted.”
He said if a student was not performing well, he or she “can’t get money.”
Conrad even called for the programme to revert to Dollar for Dollar.
“You put half and I put half because it is your education and we have to invest in our own future. We can’t just sit down...we need to look and institute some means tests and get Gate more targeted so that lower income individuals will benefit more and if you have a higher income, there’s no way you should be getting Gate.”
Conrad said “rich” parents should pay for their child’s education and that money should be spent on those who really need it.
UWI students
grateful
•Karishma Gokool, a third-year student studying international relations, said raising the GPA to 2.0 from 1.0 was a smart move.
“Since I started UWI, I’ve seen a lot of students missing because they don’t meet the GPA standards. Some of them just come and lime and waste the funding from the Government.”
•Chad Bachan, of St Helena, who is paying for his tuition because he switched his course of study from geomatics engineering to mathematics and physics, said not many people were financially able to afford an education and Gate gave the poorer student a chance.
About Gate
Established in 2004, the Gate programme was expected to cover tuition expenses for students at tertiary level institutions. Over the years, it has expanded to include technical and vocational training. The objectives of the programme are to:
•make tertiary education affordable to all, denying no citizen of T&T tertiary education because of their inability to pay;
•widen access to tertiary education to support economic development and promote social equity;
•build and strengthen a national quality tertiary education sector through both private and public tertiary education level institutions.