PM receives opposition to proposed SLB funding policy

[Lazie]

Prime Minister Bruce Gooding is receiving more opposition to his proposal to change the way the Student Loan Bureau (SLB) operates.

Mr Golding says the Government would be seeking to make SLB loans more attractive for students pursuing studies in areas where there is a demand.

He cited pharmacology among the areas that would be given preferential treatment.

Already the student representatives at two of the island’s universities have rejected the proposal calling it impractical.

This morning, Robert Wynter, a leading management consultant agreed with the student representatives.

Mr Wynter says there may be consequences if the Government makes SLB funds more attractive to students in select areas of study.

Additionally, he says certain fields may be flooded with professionals with no interest in those areas.

http://go-jamaica.com/news/read_article.php?id=7742

[Mosiah]

I agree with the PM.

[Lazie]

EDITORIAL - Golding on to something, but ...
Published: Friday | April 3, 2009



Prime Minister Bruce Golding is clearly on to something, even if the idea needs further debate and refinement, with his intervention in Parliament this week on a planned overhaul of the criteria for lending by the Students' Loan Bureau (SLB).

The PM said that the intention is to offer preferential terms to borrowers wanting to enter "those areas of study that we feel are in national demand" and critical to national development.

In other words, Mr Golding appears to be taking on-board something for which this newspaper has been campaigning: the use of public policy and state resources to drive educational outcomes into areas that will allow Jamaica to compete in a modern technological world.

Our proposal, however, has been for the Government to leverage its direct subsidies to tertiary institutions to influence this process. For instance, at present, all Jamaican students at the tertiary level have 80 per cent of the economic cost of their education covered by the state - regardless of their areas of study.

Perverse outcome

In terms of driving the development of a modern, technology-based economy, some will argue that the outcome of such a policy has been perverse. Take one institution, the University of the West Indies, which gets 80 per cent of the Government's subventions to universities. Seventy-five per cent of the Jamaican graduates from the UWI are in the humanities.

In 2007, only 28 Jamaicans, or less than one per cent of all graduates, passed out of the UWI with degrees in engineering. There were 319 graduates in pure and applied sciences, but that was just around 10 per cent of all graduates. There were only five graduates in agriculture. Yet, these are the kinds of fields where we believe it is necessary for there to be a concentration of graduates if Jamaica is to reach its goal of developed country status by 2030.

In this regard, we have argued for a rebalancing of the Government's subsidies to tertiary institutions in favour of those faculties that produce the graduates whom the economy needs most for its development and growth - based, of course, on rigorous labour market and econometric analyses.

Congruent direction

Mr Golding's student loans proposal hints at a congruent direction. Yet, we would wish to see the idea developed some more and the policy outlines fully discussed before implementation.

For while we are sympathetic to the prime minister's idea, it is important that the policy does not diminish access to tertiary education, which is not the intent of the administration and less likely with a rebalancing of subsidies among faculties. People may pay more to read for degrees in the humanities, but not denied loans to finance their studies.

We believe that Prime Minister Golding is aware of all the possibilities - and dangers - and that the policy process will include a long and hard review of the SLB to ensure that its resources are utilised as efficiently as possible.

Hopefully, between faculty rebalancing and the SLB, it is hoped that Jamaica can end that problem identified by Mr Golding, whereby students have borrowed and can't repay their loans for lack of jobs when "within the public sector and the private sector ... we have a critical skill shortage that makes it difficult for us to deliver services", as he has stated.


The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.

[Willi]

Me too.