November 27, 2020
Over The Last Sixteen Years, The State Spent $8.2Billion On GATE
From its inception date in 2004 to present, the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (GATE) program has provided tertiary level education for a total of 225,000 students, at a cost of $8.2 billion.
This was revealed by Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Rowley, at the Ministry of Education’s Spotlight on Education event onThursday.
Dr Rowley said over the years governments in Trinidad and Tobago have remained committed to providing this type of social support to ensure citizens can access opportunities in education.
The Prime Minister said the Government was forced to revise the GATE programme given the country’s substantial fall in revenue due to plummeting oil and gas prices.
Turning his attention to the scholarship programme, Dr Rowley said as the national budget is reduced, the new scholarship policy together with the new national bursary policy will ensure fairness in the distribution of resources.
He said, “There is some element of equity that has to be sought after and found to ensure that those who need the help get it, and those who can help themselves do so largely without being excluded from the support that the state has to offer.”
From 2015-2019, a total of 1,977 scholarships were awarded at a cost of approximately $630 million:
Total number of Open Scholarships = 669
Total number of Open Medical Scholarships = 230
Cost per (1) Open Medical Scholarship = $600,000 (per annum)
Total Number of Open Non-Medical Scholarships = 439
Cost per (1) Open Non-Medical Scholarships = $450,000 (per annum)
Additional Scholarships = 1,308
Cost per (1) Additional Scholarships = $225,000 (per annum)