KINGSTON, Jamaica — People’s National Party (PNP) spokesman on education, Peter Bunting, has expressed concern over the increase in tuition fees generally, which he said will “exacerbate an already dire predicament for many students and parents”.

Bunting said that while school enrollment levels were expected to fall as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, he believes that the problem will be intensified because of increased tuition fees.

In a statement today, Bunting also decried the hike in The University of the West Indies’ (UWI) tuition fees for courses quoted in United States (US) dollars.

“Although The UWI promised not to increase tuition fees, students are lamenting the additional expenses being passed on to them as a result of fees being pegged to the US dollar. With the exchange rate nearing $150 JMD to $1 USD, some students are seeing an increase of hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said.

“It is unconscionable for students to be expected to cough up hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional expenses, just days ahead of the start of their respective programmes. Educational institutions should be acutely aware of the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy generally, and more specifically, on the pockets of Jamaican families,” he added.

“Even without the pandemic, many people are stretched financially to keep students enrolled in school. Now people are facing unemployment, are on furlough, or are otherwise uncertain as to when they will see another paycheque. It is not right for The UWI or any educational institution to hold students at ransom for wanting an education,” Bunting said.

He also indicated that in economic terms, raising school fees does not bode well for the institutions.

“When you consider the price elasticity of demand, increased tuition fees will mean fewer students enrolling because they simply cannot afford it. This, in turn, results in an overall loss of revenue for the institutions, and threatens their survival,” he explained.

“We must do our best to ensure that all Jamaicans have equal access to all levels of education. If this unjust tuition hike is dumped on trying Jamaican families, the consequences will last well beyond the pandemic,” the spokesman said.

He also expressed concern about what he said is the absence of a comprehensive plan to treat with the commencement of the 2020/2021 academic year.