Reduced tuition at CMU gets little fanfare amid corruption scandal
The
Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) has announced a reduction in tuition fees
across all faculties, but the news comes at a time when the institution is
marred by scandal.
The
Palisadoes-based university’s Students’ Union, which had been lobbying for a
reduction in fees for months, was gearing up last Wednesday, October 9, to
share news of their successful negotiations with the 4,000-plus student
body.
That
breakthrough was largely overshadowed by CMU President Professor Fritz Pinnock
getting arrested just hours later by members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force
(JCF).
“Your students’ union body is pleased to advise that there has been a six percent reduction in the tuition fees across all faculties,” an advisory from the students’ union stated.
“This
consensus was arrived at subsequent to a meeting that was held with the
university’s management. The necessary adjustments have been made and students
are advised to proceed with their payments,” a section of the advisory
continued.
The
embattled CMU president was taken into custody along with its legal adviser,
Sharen Reid; her husband and former Education Minister Ruel Reid; their
daughter, Sharelle Reid; and Brown’s Town Councillor Kim Brown Lawrence.
The five were detained in simultaneous pre-dawn raids at their homes in St. Andrew, St. Catherine, and St. Ann last Wednesday and booked on charges including for breaches of the Corruption Prevention Act, conspiracy to defraud, misconduct in a public office at common law and breaches of the Proceeds of Crime Act.
