Throne Speech details how Antigua will pay for UWI Campus

5
GG Departs After Throne Speech

Governor General Sir Rodney Williams has detailed how the government plans to fund the costly venture of a full Uiversity of the West Indies Campus here.

He gave the details in the Speech from the Throne in the parliament building this morning, assuring that the campus will be ready by next September.

Sir Rodney said in order to ensure the availability of sufficient revenue to fund the university, government will look to three sources—external to tuition and fees—as a start.

“The CIP now has a component that allows USD$150,000 per applicant, to be contributed to the university endowment fund. Second, an insignificant levy on the profits of telecommunications and financial institutions will be imposed for the purpose of supplementing the Fund that will go exclusively towards financing the University’s Fourth Campus. Third, in the 2019 Budget, a sum of $10,000,000 (ten million dollars) has been allocated for the purpose of funding the Fourth Landed Campus,” the GG revealed.

He told a joint sitting of parliament that the primary object is to make tertiary education and training available to hundreds more students annually, than is now possible.

His Excellency noted that more males are therefore more likely to pursue baccalaureate degrees when that ambition can be more readily accessed right here in Antigua and Barbuda.

“Though my Government will utilize traditional sources, relied upon by universities around the world, to fund the Fourth Landed UWI Campus, many non-traditional methods will of in order to increase funding and to decrease the cost of tertiary training to students and their families,” he told the house.

Only yesterday the government reported that UWI is seeking firm assurances that it will be able to afford UWI once established.

Advertise with the mоѕt vіѕіtеd nеwѕ ѕіtе іn Antigua!
We offer fully customizable and flexible digital marketing packages.
Contact us at [email protected]

5 COMMENTS

  1. Any which way you look at it, the people will eventually have to fork out money to help to pay for this University. You tax the profits of telecommunication companies and financial institutions, you can be certain that the tax would be passed on to the consumers/customers. And the CIP component would never be consistent as the Government will use that component as it sees fit based on existing requirement. I can see down the road that University would be in difficulties just like the government is. Neither Flow or Digicel would risk any portion of their substantial profit margin to go and I see major increase in telecommunication cost once this becomes law. And banking fees….already killing us, watch out. No free lunch here.

    • Why can’t we have a campus of our own called the National University of Antigua? UWI gets free branding and a free lunch on the Antigua dime.

      If we are paying for the campus ourselves, then let’s just have our own National University of Antigua – to me, that makes more sense.

  2. Bad idea made worse. Fix the basics of education before you plunge into another abyss of overextension and poor execution.

    • over 90% of primary student move on, over 80% of secondary students move on. We have less than 2% of those same people in tertiary. This is the best decision for our education.

Comments are closed.