HUNDREDS OF students affected by the decision of the University of the West Indies (UWI) to bar them from sitting second semester examinations for non-payment of tuition fees, are to be accommodated under an emergency loan arrangement between the Government, students and the university.
Under the agreement, which was arrived at yesterday at a meeting between the parties, the students will be loaned the tuition amounts which they will then repay through summer engagements similar to the current Jamaica Values and Attitudes (JamVat) programme, Education Minister Maxine Henry-Wilson said.
"So far the university has acceded to the request from the students that they be allowed to sit the examinations," the Minister said.
INTERIM FINANCING
"On the other issue relating to payment of fees, we are looking at some proposals which will allow for an interim financing (yet to be finalised), which may well be something of an extension to the JamVat."
The first batch of students was allowed to sit their examinations yesterday, and discussions are to continue on Tuesday.
On Sunday, members of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the People's National Party called on Mrs. Henry-Wilson to address the plight of students who owed tuition and other fees to the UWI. The affected students were to face the penalty of being barred from all campus examinations.
"It (the arrangement) is yet to be finalised, but it should be in place by mid-week. We're now trying to get the information, including the (total) number of students affected, which is one of the things we have had to be dealing with, because we keep getting different figures, but it's about five per cent of the student population," the Education Minister said.
A news release from the UWI stated that "on the basis of the Government's initiative, no student who legitimately has difficulty in paying fees before examinations will be barred from sitting his/her examinations. This initiative does not include students who have the means to pay but have not paid their fees."
Meanwhile, manager of the JamVat programme, Captain Paul Barrett, said the current tuition tension should not adversely affect JamVat participants at the UWI.
"We received the money on Friday and all cheques have already been made to all the institutions," he told The Gleaner.
For the current academic year, in excess of $12 million was paid out in tuition fees to tertiary level students who have successfully completed their 200 hours work under the programme. The participants also received stipends amounting to $7.5 million.
