The Education and training sectors have been allocated the largest slice of the 2010/2011 national budget–$8 billion. Finance Minister Winston Dookeran, however, failed to outline how the money would be spent over the next fiscal year. He made the disclosure in the 2010/2011 budget presentation in Parliament yesterday. He assured though the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (GATE) programme would continue and be expanded to include vocational training.
Dookeran said that would be done to increase the participation rate in higher education to 60 per cent. Last year, the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education were listed separately with close to $3.4 billion and $2.1 billion respectively. In 12 lines, Dookeran spoke about Government's plans for the two areas. He said this month each student entering secondary school would receive a laptop to ensure "our children can compete in a world where knowledge is currency."
He added that in order to sustain "in the long run" the opportunity for every child to access higher education, the People's Partnership Government was examining a proposal to establish a children's educational plan, modelled in accordance with proven international standards. Dookeran warned that Government would "strictly enforce existing measures" to avoid and stop the abuse of the GATE programme.
