Students to pay fees at TTHTI or else

The TT Hospitality and Tourism Institute is clamping down on all students to pay tuition fees which initially had been covered by the Government Assisted Tuition Expenses (GATE) programme, and has given them deadlines, failing which they will no longer be students.

Continuing diploma, associate and bachelor degree students were on Thursday last, given packages with the fee structure, which includes increases in tuition for courses offered and other services provided. Fees have also been increased for Caricom and international students, who pay different rates. Rentals for dormitories have also been increased.

Before the institute administration’s meeting with the current batch of students, outgoing students who are due to graduate on January 25, were informed by e-mail on December 19 that if their fees are not paid by January 12 they will not be given their certificates, nor will they be able to take part in the graduation ceremony.

A student doing an associate degree told Newsday they were informed on Thursday that if they do not cover the tuition owing for the past semesters and pay a 25 per cent deposit on next semester’s courses, they will not be able to continue their studies. According to the payment plan provided by the TTHTI, students are required to pay a 25 per cent down payment and the balance over three months.

They are required to pay 50 per cent on the lab fees and the balance within 30 days of the first payment.

The student said each course in her module was $1,000 and laboratory fees $1,500 for each course. She said that at Thursday’s meeting many questions were not answered by the administrators and managers of the school and students and parents were left frustrated.

The student said based on the courses she is doing, she will have to pay $10,000 between now and February 16, when the institute reopens in the new year.

“I do not know where my parents will get that much money for me to continue my schooling,” she said. She said when she entered the programme it was because the institute was GATE-funded. “Now, they are telling us that GATE has not been paying them.”