Fazal Karim
The Keith Rowley-led administration has betrayed the nation yet again!
The shocking cutbacks to the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (Gate) programme must be rejected by every right-thinking person in T&T. The Government has pulled the greatest con job on the nation's students, parents, families, and all tertiary-level institutions.
Regrettably, the Honourable Prime Minister hid in the shadows and delegated this crucial national policy issue to the Honourable Minister of Education. Is education and training not worthy of a dignified address from the head of the Cabinet of the Republic of T&T? Yet, in the run-up to the 2015 general election, the Keith Rowley administration campaigned from pillar to post– "No interference with the Gate programme."
Page 40 of the PNM Manifesto reads "we will...preserve, maintain and expand where necessary, our system of free education and training at all levels." The PNM's actions are diametrically opposed to its printed and stated policies.
In less than one year, the PNM Government has:
1. Stopped the laptop programme in secondary schools and has not introduced any alternative;
2. Re-introduced taxes on computers and textbooks;
3. Cut scholarships from 470 to 400 beneficiaries;
4. Closed down the Ministry of Tertiary Education and Skills Training;
5. Removed stipends from vocational students;
6. Failed to deliver on the 20 per cent increase in OJT stipends;
7. Failed to deliver on its proposed Graduate Recruitment Programme;
8. Deliberately stymied progress on the UWI South Campus;
9. Stalled all progress on the UTT Tamana Campus; and
10. Maliciously cut the Gate programme by a projected $100 million in the first year and at least $200 million in the subsequent years.
Does that sound like a Government concerned about educating its citizenry? The disingenuous excuse that the economic conditions warrant these cutbacks is nothing short of deception. Stated-sponsored boat rides, state-sponsored joy rides, state financed paintings and luxury vehicles do not signal economic stringencies. It is clear that the PNM Government has no philosophy, plan or vision for education and training in T&T.
Means test
The PNM introduced the means test in September 2004 and then discontinued it in 2006. The PNM recognised that the means test was fraught with inefficiencies. If the PNM Scholarship Slush Fund is any yardstick, the new means test will be subject to abuse and discriminatory practices. Students belonging to households with incomes of above $10,000 and $20,000 will now incur tuition costs of 25 per cent and 50 per cent respectively. Where will families now find thousands of dollars to fund education, while confronted with more taxes (including an online tax which comes into effect in September 2016), higher fuel prices and growing joblessness all caused by the PNM Government? Betrayal 101!
The Help
The Higher Education Loan Programme (Help) is a discounted loan facility accessed through local commercial banking institutions and covers tuition related fees, accommodation, transportation and books. However, each year just about 2,000 students access Help. Even if the PNM increases the loan ceiling to $35,000 annually, the number of students accessing this facility will not increase significantly because of the stringent loan conditions enforced by the financial institutions. The ambiguous statement that Government will 'review its policies with respect to being the sole guarantor and subsidisation of interest rates' may very well result in the state abandoning its role as guarantor and removal of subsidised interest rates. Betrayal 102!
Accreditation
Between September 2004 and May 2010 (under the PNM's tenure), no institution operating in T&T was accredited by the ACTT. It was under the People's Partnership Government that 12 institutions were conferred institutional accreditation. The ACTT Act (Chapter 39:06) requires all institutions to be registered, however, institutional accreditation is a voluntary process. A registered institution does not equate to a substandard institution. In fact, a registered institution must have a quality management system in place. The PNM, yet again, has discombobulated the issue. Many private franchise providers are not eligible for institutional accreditation because these institutions deliver transnational programmes. However, the quality of the transnational programmes may very well be exceptionally high and demanded by employers/industry. The PNM has used institutional accreditation as a ruse to push private education institutions out of business and limit the pool of Gate-approved institutions. The PNM opened and closed the Gate on private education institutions. Betrayal 103!
Regional medical training
It was the People's Partnership Government that increased capacity at UWI Mt Hope to accommodate 300 MBBS students and an additional 100 MBBS students at the Teaching Hospital in San Fernando. Based on our expansionary programme we were able to initiate a phased reduction of regional medical studies. Up to 2014/2015 cumulatively, UWI, Mt Hope, trained 775 students at a cost of TT$37 million compared to UWI Mona (227 students at TT$43 million), UWI Cave Hill (114 students at TT$19 million) and St George's University (207 students at $58 million). It was cheaper to train medical students at Mt Hope.
In the 2015 budget presentation (page 21) the PNM stated "we will address the shortage of medical personnel immediately. You will already have observed our recent decision to ensure that all medical students at the Mona and Cave Hill campuses of the UWI receive Gate funding, and rather than wasting money on expensive white elephants and vanity projects, we will expend substantial resources on training opportunities in all areas of health care..." The PNM Government increased the spend on medical health training at regional institutions last year to gain the popular vote–and one year later, has cut funding to the same regional training institutions. Clearly, a Government with no plan. The Prime Minister assured the regional medical students that they had nothing to worry about and then he pulls the rug from beneath their feet. Can medical students realistically find hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund their studies in the region? Betrayal 104!
Over 50s
Perhaps the most discriminatory and deceitful of all is the removal of Gate from people over the age of 50. Page 41 of the PNM's manifesto reads "we will...promote and encourage continuing education and adult education." What about the many single parents who have been displaced or retrenched because of the PNM's mismanagement of the economy? How will mature citizens retool, reskill and become employable particularly in view of the debate surrounding increasing the retirement age to meet the demands of an ageing population? The removal of Gate funding to citizens over 50 years of age will discourage continuing education and adult education. Betrayal 105!
As the nation waits with bated breath for the details surrounding the areas of alignment for postgraduate studies, it may be useful to note that the PNM stated the exact thing in the cabinet note which established Gate back in 2004. Twelve years later, and the nation is at ground zero. The PNM has no plan for economic diversification far less a plan for education and training programming.
With the PNM sanctioned cut backs to the Gate programme–student debt will increase, student drop-out rates will rise, the pool of postgraduate students will fall and the critical mass of highly trained professionals will be reduced.
The PNM continues to betray students–who will now be confined to one undergraduate and one postgraduate programme. Let us hope that the savings bonds, National Education Savings Fund and the other fiscal incentives to encourage education savings are not further betrayals by the PNM. The Gate betrayal!
n Fazal Karim, MP for Chaguanas East, was the former minister of science, technology and tertiary education under the People's Partnership Government.