Education . . . is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance wheel of social machinery. – Horace Mann
The issue of University of the West Indies students making a contribution to the cost of education is one with which Governments have been grappling for decades now.
Our human resource development has been pivoted on the “pillar concept” of free education from nursery to tertiary level. Thousands of Barbadians have had their life fortunes enhanced or turned around because of free access to education across the board.
It is an indisputable fact that education has been the ladder on which many of us from humble beginnings have risen to some social prominence. Given the commitment of successive Governments to this central developmental philosophy, Barbadians have come to view free access to tertiary education as an entitlement. It is so much a part of our social and political psyche that it is virtually impossible to conceive of it no longer being available.
Within the context of a prolonged global recession, the issue of our ability to sustain this provision has stared us straight in the face. The cost of education has skyrocketed and tertiary education, in particular, has become increasingly expensive.
Within the last two decades there has been phenomenal infrastructural expansion at the Cave Hill Campus and the vision of Sir Hilary Beckles is laudable in spite of views to the contrary.
The long mooted “graduate in every household” philosophy has been scrutinized and criticized, given the contraction and shift in the employment culture. Laudable though the concept is, many have asked what is the use of a graduate in every household if they cannot find work.
It is my view that the Government is between a rock and a hard place. Ideally, the time to make the adjustment by asking students to make a contribution toward the cost of their tertiary education is in times of plenty. If everyone is doing well financially to the point where they can afford to do so, the call to pay would perhaps be more palatable.
To ask students to pay tuition fees during stringent economic times seems unrealistic, though the reality stares us all in the face.
But what other options are available? Perhaps some consideration should be given to a post-graduation contribution. In other words, once you have graduated and are in full-time employment, it might not be unreasonable to require a manageable contribution over a period of time. Consultations with the stakeholders would determine what quantum could be repaid.
Consideration has already been given to measures to deal with those delinquent students who take seven and eight years to complete a four-year programme. The cudgel should be swung to cut out this kind of recklessness and wastage.
The country heard the pain in the voice of the Minister of Finance as he put the case for the payment of tuition fees. As a beneficiary of free education himself, I am sure that Mr Sinckler and the Cabinet took no pride or pleasure in articulating such an initiative.
Within the context of our political culture, the argument – as advanced by the Leader of the Opposition – was clearly anticipated and well articulated. If I were in her shoes, I would advance the identical argument with equal vigour and conviction.
Our politicians on both sides are products of our educational provisions and, like Sir Hilary, I do not believe that they would take any pride in “kicking down the ladder on which they have risen”.
If we felt that this issue was a political hot potato before, it has now become a “sacred cow” which no political party will ever succeed in slaughtering. The social underpinnings and the political ramifications of any attempt to roll back our gains, no matter how we may rationalize and justify it, are so far-reaching as to constitute a breach or even a betrayal of social justice as we have come to understand it within the context of our human resource development.
It is a bitter pill for the Government to swallow but it would be political suicide to “kick against this prick”. To fly in the face of what is now the will of the people to have their Government continue to fully fund educational provisions across the board is tantamount to scarring the Barbadian psyche irreparably.
Government would be well advised to let the status quo remain and find a more creative way to raise the revenue it needs.
• Matthew Farley is a secondary school principal, chairman of the National Forum on Education, and a social commentator.
