Karim: UTT fee hike is punitive tax on learning

FORMER tertiary education minister Fazal Karim has slammed a decision to increase student registration fees at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT), describing it as "oppressive and punitive" and a "tax on learning."

In a recent statement, Karim, also a retired teacher, said it "would be impossible for students and parents to pay for this callous spike in registration fees and that any attempt to do so will deepen the despair faced by students." He called on the government to intervene and rescind UTT's decision to increase the fees.

He said many people are already experiencing major losses, owing to the pandemic, including their friends and family, income, livelihoods and "their way of life – all as a result of the Government's catastrophic mismanagement of the health pandemic.

Karim said during his tenure as minister, university registration fees at all institutions were kept affordable and that the 300 per cent fee increase at UTT (from $440 to $1,200) was obscene.

In the United States, he said, some universities had even reduced or placed a freeze on tuition fees and kept mandatory registration fees flat because of the shift to remote learning.

"In South Korea, universities filed a class action lawsuit against the Ministry of Education, demanding partial refunds because of the disruptions to learning caused by school closures during the pandemic."

He described the decision by UTT as "out of touch with the grim financial realities of many families in TT, many of whom are struggling to put food on the table far less pay student registration fees."

Karim said "the hard truth" was that tens of thousands of students remain without (electronic) devices and are locked out of learning, including those at the university level.

"University students have been abandoned by the PNM Government. No concessions have been made for university students over the past year and a half of school closure.

"Instead, a 'tax' is now being introduced to further punish students."

Karim went on to call on the government to establish a policy for all tertiary education institutions to freeze tuition and non-tuition fees "to ensure that students are not disenfranchised."

He said maintaining this d"raconian student registration fee hike" at UTT will force many students to delay, avoid or drop out of university, which would further erode what he described as the dire financial situation at UTT.