An excerpt of the message below was published in the print version of this issue.
Just last month, on May 18 to 20 to be exact, UNESCO held the World Higher Education Conference in Barcelona, Spain. This event, hosted as the world emerges from the years-long pandemic crisis, was very timely.
In its conference concept note, UNESCO points to the need for “a new vision, a reinvention of what higher education will mean in the future”. In Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean, we have been grappling for some time with questions of how to transform not only higher education, but education at all levels. The pandemic has amplified the critical nature of these efforts. This is not only through the disarray it has caused, but also because of the enormous opportunity it represents by forcing us to recognise two of the greatest enemies of national and regional development – complacency and a conformity to outdated practices. This holds true for education as it does for many other sectors in society. COVID-19 has assaulted and exposed the fragility of systems, forcing us to question their viability and, as necessary, find better ways to fulfil their purposes. It has shaken the proverbial tree.
One of the disturbing, yet all too unsurprising pieces of the story of the war in Ukraine is how it has unearthed uglier aspects of European bias and prejudice. Several commentators expressed shock that such a conflict could take place in Europe, suggesting that war was somehow an indulgence of black and brown nations. An idea that quite frankly shows an astonishing level of ignorance of both European and world history.
The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago recently announced its non-support of the Campus’ proposal to increase tuition fees submitted by UWI St Augustine Campus to The UWI Council. The precursor to this was at the annual meeting of the UWI Fees Committee, on which the Student Guild and Government sit to discuss fees for the upcoming year. At that meeting, the Guild raised its objection to the proposal as we anticipated, but the Government reserved its position pending Cabinet discussion. The committee mandated that discussions be held among the three parties to come up with a final recommendation to Council. The next University Council meeting will be held in late July, but with the Government having stated its position, it is our hope that Council will now be able to have a fulsome discussion on whether to retain the current 21-year-old fee structure or not prior to that; this will provide the necessary clarity to current and prospective students for the new academic year starting in September.
The Campus fully respects the government’s decision and acknowledges the concerns of stakeholders on its operations. However, there is need to provide some perspective on this issue and to bring more clarity to the issues at hand.
As was correctly stated, the institution is rather complex and, not surprisingly, so is its financial framework. To explain further, the fees in question pertain only to programmes that regional governments agree to cover 80 percent of economic costs with students contributing the remaining 20 percent. This 20 percent is what is defined as tuition; essentially then, students registered in such programmes have, since 2001, benefited from an 80 percent scholarship. These are called Campus Grant Committee (CGC) programmes. There are also programmes, primarily postgraduate programmes, for which students pay full economic cost. The Medical Sciences programmes are not CGC funded and so do not fall within the scope of this discussion.
It is my belief that whether it is to reduce the demands on Government or to ensure that we can make ends meet, the time has come for an increase in tuition fees. Further, the paradigm of fee stagnation has to be broken and fee reviews conducted and implemented on an annual basis. This is the norm on other campuses and at universities globally. In this regard, work is being done to determine what level of student investment in their own education is fair and affordable, while being necessary for the proper functioning of the university.
The proposal to increase tuition is just one of the strategies planned to address an unanticipated 10 percent reduction – approximately $51 million – in Government subvention. However, this will cover less than half the shortfall. Other strategies mentioned in the proposal include a further reduction in expenditure by approximately $20 million (expenditure has already been reduced by more than $100 million over the past six years), and an increase in income from various sources by $9 million. A key component of the latter is the launch of The UWI Global School of Medicine which is awaiting feedback on facilitation requests from Government and which, at maximum estimated returns, would provide income equivalent to 25 percent of the Campus’ current expenditure. We have also greatly enhanced our relationships with private sector entities in a range of projects. We look forward to building mutually beneficial partnerships with them through UWI Ventures Ltd, as we begin to launch selected spinoff companies, adding to the portfolio of foreign exchange income earning companies.
Understandably, the idea of having to spend more on anything, even something as vital as education, may be somewhat disconcerting. We recognise and sympathise with these concerns, particularly those raised by the Guild of Students on the increased challenge to the most vulnerable of our citizens. However, these decisions are not being taken lightly. We are mindful of the fact that The UWI was created to serve the Caribbean, and, therefore, unlike the corporate sector, does not have the profit motive as its highest priority. However, we are also mindful of the fact that it is our sole responsibility to balance the books at the end of the year.
It is my view that the critical issue of access facilitation, particularly to the disadvantaged, must not be conflated with financial considerations. This is the responsibility of society as a whole – the public, the UWI, Government and the corporate sector – through, for example, scholarships, bursaries, grants, and educational investments. Indeed, the Guild has proposed a national campaign to encourage parents to create education investment funds. It is not a new idea for The UWI, but certainly one that should once again be weighed in the funding model discourse. The following example speaks directly to the proposal: not counting accrued interest, a family investment of TT$250 a month over the 18-year lifetime of the average student at entry, fully covers the TT$54,000 tuition (TT$18,000 per year) for the internationally accredited BSc Engineering three-year degree at the St Augustine Campus. The BSc Engineering is the most expensive CGC funded programme. A similarly accredited degree in the UK can cost a non-UK resident £20,000 to £30,000 or more per year! When one considers the lifetime benefit to the graduate engineer in terms of the opportunity to work or study almost anywhere in the world, the value of the family investment is unquestionable.
If students are expected to invest more in their education, we are expected to ensure the quality of that education. This includes proper mechanisms for evaluation, feedback and measurement of outcomes. We have been increasing our efforts in these areas and will continue to do so. Indeed, the need for greater performance measurement was cited as one of the major conclusions in the Chancellor’s Report on Governance. I believe this is crucial for both the growth of The UWI and the maintenance of its reputation.
The provision of quality internationally accredited higher educational services to the region is costly. Equipment and services have to be upgraded regularly and the teaching staff must include a highly qualified, internationally recognised cohort. However, our fees have not increased in some 21 years – that’s longer than many of our students have been alive! In fact, these fees are among the lowest in the Caribbean. The new proposal actually aligns St Augustine tuition fees with those at other campuses. At the same time, we fully acknowledge the fact that CARICOM governments have been investing less in The UWI as they face their own challenges in addressing more critical national priorities with weakened and unstable cash flows. New, competing tertiary level institutions have been established. Life, in general, becomes more expensive over time, and 21 years is quite a long time in this regard. Indeed, had fees been allowed to increase to match inflation rates, the current levels would have been almost three times what they are today.
The St Augustine Campus tuition fee proposal speaks to our economic reality. However, this is about much more than responding to a revenue shortfall. I began this article by focusing on the need for a new vision for education for this new post-COVID world. I believe that essential to this vision is a fresh recognition of the value of education to society, and our collective responsibility in its development and in ensuring our ability to thrive. Education is an investment, and we must all be investors, as well as shareholders.
The Ministry of Education, through its Draft Education Policy Paper 2017-2022, has been engaging in a national discussion on education. In our contribution to that discussion, we posed a very fundamental question on the real purpose of education. By and large, one gets the sense that we have all just historically assumed that this is simply something that must be done. I would argue, however, that the answer to this seemingly trivial question on purpose and intent, and the corresponding alignment of our national education system, are absolutely essential to the optimum development of our human potential.
We proposed that the raison d'être for any national system of education is to enable nationals to survive in times of crisis, to make the most of every opportunity to thrive and establish a decent standard of living for themselves and their family, and to contribute to efforts to sustain and grow the society. In short, it must enable and empower every citizen for survival and success regardless of the prevailing circumstances.
There are three key new(ish) concepts embodied in this rationale. First, our national education system must address education for crisis – a terminology I adopted from Professor Paula Morgan years ago – that would have better prepared us for the experiences of the past two years. It is not part of the regional curriculum. Secondly, every citizen must have effective mastery of body and mind that enables them to make optimum use of their physical and mental assets. There is not enough space to expand on that here but I would simply note at this juncture that this is much more than physical education. Finally, the Ministry of Education should have major oversight on every channel through which education takes place — formal, informal and non-formal. Learning does not take place only in the school system. Initiatives that address these three channels of education must be informed by a single policy framework, proper stakeholder mapping, and engagement across the board in conjunction with other ministries, NGOs, and the private sector.
The reader can, perhaps, see the paradox we face: the same attributes needed to revolutionise our educational system are exactly those that are somewhat lacking in our national culture. We who are the leaders in the national education system are, by and large, products of the status quo that fairly well served the nation for a long time. We must now almost literally lift ourselves by the bootstraps and take the bold and innovative steps to fashion an education system that brings meaningful value to each and every citizen. A conformist approach to education will not adequately empower our future leaders in managing the anxiety of taking risk or daring to do things differently.
When The UWI was established in 1948 and adopted the modus operandi of the University of London (of which we were a college) our purpose was clear. We were to develop the Caribbean’s human potential for our post-colonial future. That was just under three quarters of a century ago. Although much of that purpose remains the same, the world has now drastically changed. The marketplace has changed. Work has changed. More importantly, our ideas of what constitutes a happy and fulfilling life have evolved. The UWI must now accelerate its efforts to make the internal strategic transformations to contribute significantly to the development of the Caribbean’s human potential for our post-COVID future.
In a statement entitled “Education: from Disruption to Recovery”, UNESCO states that “education must transform” to match the realities of today. These are incredibly troubling times for the region and the world. A new spirit of urgency is not just desirable, it is required. Our human capital is one of our greatest – if not our greatest – strengths. Education, inclusive of a focused education strategy, is the key to unlocking that strength. This is its core value proposition. Furthermore, in this region, we have a long history of understanding that a good education is a fundamental right. We must now also recognise that it is our collective responsibility to ensure the quality of the institutions that provide this service to Caribbean society. Let us reimagine its potential and collaborate to bring that potential to fruition.
