THE Government is expecting to see more students placed on the deregistration lists of various tertiary institutions resulting from the recently announced intended freeze on tuition subsidies, Education Minister Andrew Holness has admitted.

The freeze was just one of the conditionalities laid down in the recently inked loan agreement between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Jamaica. Based on the arrangement, a nominal freeze will also be implemented on tuition subsidies for tertiary education at the level of the 2009/10 budget and a systems of means testing introduced. Subsidies on external school examination fees will also be reduced by an incentive structure where persons are reimbursed based on their performance.

However, Holness said the Government would be increasing the capital base of the Students' Loan Bureau to provide access for more students as well as supplying more in grant funding to the universities.

He was responding to questions laid in the House this week by former education minister Maxine Henry-Wilson about the administration's policy and plans for the island's tertiary sector.

"Even when the Government increases subsidies in line or above inflation universities and colleges have increased their fees regardless," Holness said. "Students will face an increase in their fees, we have said to the institutions that any increase must be in line with inflation. We do not know as yet the internal workings of the universities in setting their fees are as yet."

Just this January students of the University of the West Indies staged a demonstration on the Mona campus, to protest against the IMF-ordered freeze on subsidies to tertiary institutions, as well as the impending hike in tuition fees and other costs. The students said their fear was that the new measures would significantly increase the risk of a number of persons being deregistered from institutions for non-payment of fees; a situation which is not uncommon each academic year.

Holness said a means test would be applied to determine persons who were most in need of the assistance.

And he said an analysis of the results of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate and other Government-subsidised exams revealed that the Government "is losing significantly based on the manner in which the examinations are subsidised".

"The ministry is proposing to implement an incentive scheme whereby students are reimbursed after obtaining the required grade for the subject/s while taking into consideration those students who are unable such as PATH beneficiaries who will continue to receive subsidies towards their exams," Holness said.

He also said Cabinet will by April receive a submission for a strategic policy and plan for the tertiary sector which proposes an oversight commission to regulate the sector.

The Government spends some $14 billion annually on tertiary institutions, which cater to 60,000 students.

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