By Omar Anderson, Gleaner WriterWITH SCHOOL set to begin on Monday, nearly 3,000 students at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona campus, are in panic mode as they have been unable to register for the new academic year.
Many of the students are likely to miss classes on Monday and the rest of the week, as the UWI's registration system has been refusing their registration entries. This results from Government's tardiness in handing over a promised $40 million loan to the university's credit union.
INITIALLY BARRED
The majority of students who are unable to register were initially barred from taking final exams at the university in April, because of outstanding tuition fees. However, Education Minister Maxine Henry-Wilson intervened on the Government's behalf, following a meeting of her party's National Executive Council (NEC).
The UWI administration was asked to allow the students to sit their exams, on the promise that the Government would lend the university's credit union $40 million to cover the amount of money the students owed the institution. The balance would be used to set up a revolving loan scheme.
UWI's Guild president Damion Crawford, told The Gleaner yesterday that he had contacted Finance Minister Dr. Omar Davies on Monday who promised to get back to him. But Mr. Crawford said the Finance Minister has not yet done so.
"The fact that school is opening on Monday, I figured it (call) would have been made as soon as possible," he said.
Mr. Crawford noted that if things remain as they are, a number of students will find themselves in a quandary next week.
"More than 700 students can't register but almost 2,000 will be affected because it (money) was supposed to go into a revolving loan fund," he told The Gleaner.
GOVERNMENT'S COMMITMENT
If and when the Government honours its commitment to the students, each student, according to the Guild president, will be able to borrow up to $50,000, payable in six months at two per cent interest on the reducing balance. This interest rate would be lower than the 26 per cent charged by the Students' Loan Bureau.
A source at the UWI's Community Co-operative Credit Union said it has not begun processing students' loans because it had not got the approval from the university hierarchy.
Meanwhile, Professor Kenneth Hall, principal of the Mona campus of the UWI, told The Gleaner the university was unrelenting in prohibiting students from registering if they owe the institution.
He cited a cut in the university's budget, as well as a recent roll-back in increased tuition.
"We (university) are unable to provide instruction unless we are able to collect all funds due to us, so we can meet the obligations of our students," Professor Hall said.
