Leading decision-makers of Barbados’ public and private sectors committed to the growth of knowledge-based households and with a particular emphasis on development of higher or tertiary education, ought to be exposed to the valuable data and analyses outlined in the 165-page report produced by The Beckles’ Commission on Higher Education.
Perhaps the Minister of Education and Human Resource Development, Ronald Jones, who commissioned the report, owes it to himself, the government and people of Barbados to ensure availability of at least the core features of this seminal report to much more than the administrations and teaching staff of the quartet of campuses that were integrally involved in shaping the “framework document”.
The campuses involved over a one-year period under the chairmanship of Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, pro vice chancellor and principal of the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies were, in addition to Cave Hill, the Barbados Community College, Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic and Erdiston Teachers’ Training College.
Perhaps the most regrettable development to have followed the official submission of the report is the shock disclosure by Finance Minister Chris Sinckler, in presentation of the 2013 national budget, of the government’s unilateral decision to impose, from the 2014 academic year, the 20 per cent tuition fee to affect some 8 000 Barbadian students at Cave Hill in addition to those at Mona and St Augustine.
I say most regrettable since, among the specific recommendations outlined in the report, introduction of a 20 per cent tuition fee is not listed. From whence, therefore, has come this 20 per cent tuition fee for Barbadian UWI students?
A core feature of the Commission’s recommendations is a “revised funding model for tertiary education with the government providing annually 85 per cent (inclusive of a higher education levy); ten per cent contribution from the private sector; and five per cent by the consumer in a new cost-sharing scheme. It is felt that the five per cent economic cost should be introduced as a “social amenities fee” (already entrenched at Cave Hill) for all tertiary educational institutions.
While the Barbados Government remains committed to paying 80 per cent of economic cost, the 20 per cent annual tuition fee was never a requirement. Further, the modest $800 social amenities fee each student pays annually, amounting to approximately $6 million at present, have proven most beneficial to them for medical assistance, transportation facilities, as well as for varied sports and cultural activities. Contrary to a false impression, these amenities are not at the expense of the public treasury.
In the circumstances, it could prove quite useful for public education that instead of being stuck in the proverbial mud with a continuation of confrontational party politicking over the 20 per cent tuition fee for students, independent public fora could be organized, in cooperation with the business sector, for Professor Beckles and fellow commissioners who produced the very informative report to address the cogent issues relating to the proposed strategies for reforming tertiary education.
• Rickey Singh is a noted Caribbean journalist.
