BARBADIANS HAVE LONG VIEWED access to university education, and technical and vocational education and training, as the best pathway for the development of both the state and the individual.
But the acute financial challenges facing this nation have forced a curtailment of what many long considered a birthright – free tertiary education. The change in what was long considered an entitlement has created genuine hurdles for many students, particularly from disadvantaged economic backgrounds.
There are bursaries and scholarships available, but not all students, no matter how academically worthy, can expect total support from these sources of funding.
While student loans are being offered by financial institutions and the Student Revolving Loan Fund, these are inaccessible to those whose family incomes cannot meet set criteria.
This has left Barbados’ tertiary education system, once the envy of the English-speaking Caribbean, looking shaky.
The cutbacks by the state and its failure to keep up-to-date with funding requirements have left the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) reeling. The campus has clearly been hampered by the cuts instituted by the Democratic Labour Party administration, which did not do a good job in rolling out the changes. The campus may now lag in so many ways.
It is a very real challenge and the decline in student enrolment tells a story. It is true that the Barbados Community College and Erdiston Teachers’ Training College offer some quality lower-cost tertiary-level opportunities which must be fully explored.
We also agree the Cave Hill Campus cannot simply be about churning out graduates who may be ill-equipped to meet the real needs of a 21st century Barbados, or for that matter, to find a niche any place in the world based on their certification and competencies.
That is why the issue of finding a sustainable funding model for UWI should be addressed and resolved this week when its University Grants Committee meets in Barbados for the first time in over a decade.
We are eager to hear what Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler, who will be chairing the meeting for the first time, has to say. We hope that he will not merely review and approve recommendations, but use the opportunity also to lay out a vision. He should share the plan with an anxious public. This is necessary, especially coming after testy relations between the Government and the university that did not serve anyone’s interest.
What is needed is an assurance of how this country will use university education and research to help spur economic growth. It is also important that financial support is put in place to ensure the UWI does not lose its relevance.
A successful and growing Cave Hill Campus serves this country’s best interest. This has always been the case.
