Although the current administration has continued to place much emphasis on the provision of education across all levels, senior government officials have said that it is simply impossible to continue the wholesale funding for the tertiary sector due to several pressing reasons.
Chief among the reasons was the current economic constraints which necessitated an urgent revision of the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (GATE) programme and the fact that that a comprehensive review had not been undertaken since its introduction in 2004.
GATE was a replacement for the UNC’s Dollar-for-Dollar Education Plan which started in 2001.
Blasting the People’s National Movement (PNM) for its part in what he dubbed an “erosion” of decades of progress of the education system, former Tertiary Education Minister Fazal Karim yesterday accused them of successively dismantling the system within the last two years.
However, in an immediate rebuttal - Education Minister Anthony Garcia responded that the PNM remained committed to providing an education for as they adhered to the mandate of the 2000 Dakar Commitment to Education for All.
Pointing out that tertiary education participation had increased from eight per cent in 2002 to an estimated 65.23 per cent in 2015, Garcia said the targeted tertiary participation rate of at least 60 per cent by 2015 has therefore, been exceeded.
He said, “The current level of tertiary participation compares favourably with the rate for developed countries.”
Karim argued that the incompetence and negligence of the PNM had brought T&T closer to a failed state as prior to GATE and Dollar-for-Dollar, many middle income and working-class families could not have afforded tertiary education.
This was immediately refuted by Garcia who said, “In 2016, the GATE Programme was reviewed in order to ensure sustainability of funding. The National Consultations on Education and a Task Force were instrumental in assisting the Government in its review.”
“It was noted that most of the recipients of the GATE Programme are from families which fall in the middle to high income groups of the society.”
Garcia said declining local and global energy prices had led to concerns over the sustainability of current expenditure levels via the GATE Programme.
He added: “Currently, the Government is experiencing significant reductions in revenues and foreign exchange earnings as a result of the falling prices of oil and gas.”
Garcia said when the GATE Programme was first introduced, oil prices ranged from US $40 to US$ 50 per barrel.
Garcia stressed: “Students whose monthly household income is less than $10,000 will be fully funded under the GATE Programme.”
“Where the household income is above $10,000 per month but less than $30,000, students will be eligible for 75 per cent of tuition fees. Students whose household income exceeds $30,000 per month will be required to pay 50 per cent of tuition fees”
He went on further that while means testing is optional; those not wishing to complete the application would be required to pay 50 per cent of their tuition fees.
Meanwhile, in order to assist students with tuition fees if required, the loan ceiling for the Higher Education Loan Programme (HELP) was increased from $25,000 to $35,000 for students studying locally.
The minister said only a small percentage of the student population, that being three per cent, had accessed loans in the past.
He said in this regard, Government was guided by current national economic challenges but had also agreed to consider a more holistic calculation of means testing by August 2018, taking into consideration other factors such as the size of student’s household and household assets.
From the inception of the GATE Programme in 2004 up to the 2015/2016 academic year, Government has spent over $6.3 billion covering programmes that range from Technical and Vocational Training (TVET) to PhD studies.