Submitted by Fair Play
Sir Frank Alleyne’s interview on the People’s Business last night was spot-on. As usual, he was cogent, rational, reasonable and, of course, very ‘frank’, no pun intended. All the while, trying not to be overly critical of the administration at Cave Hill, but tacitly showing up its unreasonableness and excessive spending, nonetheless. He walked the proverbial tightrope (having taught there for decades, so he was somewhat circumspect), but he did it well.
It was very interesting television! Lots of good points were made; but a couple salient ones stand out:
-
current physical development at the Cave Hill campus is not sustainable;
-
maintenance and personnel to staff the new structures will be difficult to maintain;
-
salary levels are very high;
-
UWI’s operating cost (to central government) has risen exponentially from about $53 million in 2005 to over $126 million in 2012-2013;
-
students who cannot matriculate at BCC easily enrol at Cave Hill;
-
they ought to spend some time getting their feet wet at the BCC, before moving on to UWI;
-
there’s to much emphasis on numbers, and this will compromise quality for quantity;
-
UWI is preoccupied with just teaching, while the required research component (which should generate income and make it less dependent on central government) is lacking;
-
there is very little difference between local students who earn the prestigious Barbadian scholarship and those who attend UWI, since the state picks up the full tab now. The only difference is that the scholarship winners can study anywhere in the world;
-
the Budget measures are timely, as government has to act NOW; set its own austerity measures, and bear the pain; otherwise, we would have to abide by those set by the IMF;
-
and, more attention must be paid to agriculture.
Moderator Dale Forde posed a very important question to Sir Frank: ‘on the one hand, UWI is supposed to be autonomous and independent, yet its bills are met by central government; so, why can’t government intervene and set a ceiling on entrants?’ (I have paraphrased here).
Hear Sir Frank’s diplomatic reply: ‘Good point, but Government has never sought to micro-manage that institution’. That’s so true; but the people at UWI must have a conscience and act responsibly, bearing in mind that it’s the taxpayers who sustain that place.
The long-and-short of the matter is, government has to rein-in Cave Hill. Simply put: who pays the piper, must call the tune. Everyone and every institution must be frugal and exercise good judgement at this time. I shudder to contemplate the alternative.
-
Additional reading: US Students Pay Very Costly College Tuition
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.