by Vivian Tyson -SUN Senior Editor

A large number of the over three hundred and fifty students studying overseas on Government scholarships are in danger of having their education abruptly interrupted because the Ministry of Finance failure to come up with their tuitions fees.    

According to information received, some of the universities are still owed last semester’s tuition fees and are not certain when such funds would be dispatched to them from the local Finance Ministry. The SUN was informed that Barry University, the tertiary institution hosting the majority of the TCI students is owed more than $300,000. Other institutions are said to have been owed between $30,000 and $80,000. 

When contacted, Undersecretary in the Ministry of Education, Sonia Williams confirmed this newspaper’s findings, saying that the Ministry of Finance was working feverishly in tandem with the Treasury in trying to come up with funds to dispatch to the overseas institutions.
She however, noted that the universities have been patient with the local authorities, owing to the consideration that in the past funds were paid to those institutions in a timely manner, but noted however, that the situation was not a comfortable one to be in.

“We have some students, whose tuitions have not been paid. But we have received information from Finance and the Treasury that they are working in putting together the funds to make the payments for these amounts, especially the larger payments, for example, to Barry University.

“But you can imagine that in these financial times it is difficult to come up with that amount of money for one institution, so I guess they are working to see how they can strategize to pay them as quickly as possible, but it is a tight situation,” the Undersecretary noted.

Over the years a number of local students have benefited from the Government Scholarship Programme, which enables students across the economic spectrum, some of whom would otherwise find it difficult to make it on their own, to attend universities in the United States and across the region.

Over the last year the programme has been scaled down, which saw fewer students being awarded the prized opportunities. A number of parents have begun to expressed fear that based on Government’s inability to effectively fund the programme, the children may be yanked, but the Undersecretary gave no such indication that such measure is on the horizon.