Barbados Government Cancels Free University Tuition

The government of Barbados has announced that starting in 2014, students at the University of the West Indies will be required to pay their own tuition. Up until now the government has subsidized 100% of tuition for university students as a means of encouraging higher education.

Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Chris Sinckler cited budget restrictions as the reason for the change, and emphasized that the government would continue to cover other economic costs associated with attending the university.

The announcement was met with protests from student groups and civil organizations across the country.

Speaking at a budget meeting, Sinckler said that in recent years the free tuition plan for UWI has cost the government more than its combined expenditure on nursery schools, primary and secondary education, and community and vocational colleges.

“The government simply cannot continue to contract such huge amounts of expenditure for which it knowingly has no sustainable means of meeting,” said Sinckler.

At a town hall meeting called to discuss the new policy, UWI’s Student Guild President, Damani Parris, declared that an estimated 80% of students would not be able to pay tuition fees.

Dr. Tennyson Joseph, head of Government, Sociology and Social Work at UWI, said that the decision to rescind free tuition would have a negative impact on society, including increased unemployment.

Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, however, said that the free tuition plan was never meant to last forever.

“The government is doing the best it could and people are simply being asked to contribute to their own development,” he said.

Creative Commons Love: Nick Southall on Flickr.com

Written by Carla Drumhiller Smith