Education has for a long time been an emotive political issue in Barbados.
Removal of the last vestige of payment for secondary education and the establishment of the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies, offering free tertiary level education, have cemented the issue in the psyche of all Barbadians.
It would not be far wrong to say that for many years some have regarded free education as an entitlement, and it has been difficult to engage in meaningful change in the system of funding tertiary level education, even though the social development of the island may have removed the urgent conditions which made it a necessity when the campus opened.
Retired educator Dr Leonard Shorey has been prominent among those who have argued in previous times that some form of payment from the student would be necessary as a revenue raising measure to ensure the continued viability of the tertiary system.
That would recover some part of the economic cost of providing what is a world-class education.
On the other hand, there are those who have argued that tertiary education is so important to the individual and to the country that any charge on the student is a breach of faith with those who established the system. In a country, which has only relatively recently escaped from grinding poverty among large swathes of its people, such an argument has potent political and social impact.
Borrowing
Yet, notwithstanding this truth, some reform of the methods of funding must be discussed, for the present situation in which the Government finds it necessary to guarantee the campus’ borrowing of $41 million from the NIS is not something that can continue as a permanent feature of our financial landscape.
We recall the outcry that met the increase of the amenities fees a few years ago, and we anticipate that further exactions from the students either for amenities or tuition costs will not be popular. But so far, the Stuart administration seems determined to stick to the policy of free tertiary education. Given this laudable objective, increasing costs must surely dictate that some further payment from students may have to be considered.
What is needed is rational debate on what is clearly an emotive issue. It is just as well that we recognize that even in the largest of capitalist countries to our north, the cost of tertiary education and of health care are also highly contentious matters with serious impact on the finances of many of their households.
In many respects, we are the beneficiaries of more enlightened social policies, and our aim must be to keep the needs of our developing society in mind as we ensure that its entire fabric is held intact in what are challenging economic times.
However one approaches this issue, a judicious fine tuning of policy on funding our tertiary education is required.
