Dear Editor,

I believe the tertiary education sector in Jamaica is the cornerstone of the nation’s development, it equips individuals with the knowledge and skills necessary to navigate and contribute to a rapidly changing world.

Therefore, a coherent strategy is urgently needed to fund tertiary education in Jamaica. The 2021 Reform of Education in Jamaica, commonly known as the Patterson Report, defines tertiary education as “the level of education which builds on secondary education, providing learning activities in specialised fields of study. It aims at learning at a high level of complexity and specialisation. Tertiary education includes what is commonly understood as academic education but also includes advanced vocational or professional education”.

The Patterson Report asserted a framework for funding the tertiary sector in a more transparent manner using the formula: base grant + research grant + special alignment grant (short-term). However, almost three years later, there has been little effort to address the inequities in funding for the tertiary sector. The report highlighted significant disparities in the funding mechanism, calling for urgent revision.

Institutions like University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) are at a severe disadvantage. The 2019 per-capita allocations for the tertiary sector ranged from $71,000 per student to a high of $1.1 million per student. For the tertiary sector, UTech, in the lower quartile, has a per-capita allocation of $148,760 compared to The University of the West Indies (UWI) at $502,250, College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE) at $497,620, and Browns Community College at $501,100. When computed, the average per tertiary student funding across all 18 tertiary institutions listed in the report is approximately $413,000, starkly contrasting UTech’s $148,760.

Interestingly, UTech is Jamaica’s national university and the premier STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) institution in the region, which contradicts the Government’s claim to prioritise STEM education. If a coherent funding policy is not implemented, institutions like UTech will face sustainability challenges. The reported $1-billion cut in UTech’s meagre 2024/2025 subvention exacerbates its struggles, rendering it unable to perform basic maintenance or pay monthly salaries.

Along with increased recurrent expenditures, a capital investment fund should be created by the Government to upgrade labs to meet industry standards if we are to compete in this global landscape.

Is the Government ignoring the Patterson Report or tertiary sector? The time for action is now to ensure the future of Jamaica’s tertiary education system is on par with world-class institutions.

Denworth Finnikin

University lecturer

denworth.finniken@gmail.com