This just in

http://www.theroyalgazette.com/siftology.royalgazette/Article/article.jsp?articleId=7d874c230030005&sectionId=60

Maybe I’m just too cynical, but I have a nagging feeling that we’ll hear somebody say very soon that this is evidence that we don’t need the UK or their special tuition rates for Bermudian students. 

A good deal nonetheless, nobody can argue with an 80% discount on a university education.

 More monies diverted to the Ewart Brown Consolidation Fund. Scam, spin, spend. All at the expence of the ones that will be left on the 'extinct' volcano.......

I need a rum....do they make a '701' proof blackrum.....................................no smilies needed..............

Could be good for some of the kids whose parent(s) might no be able to afford Big School.

Be better if the kid had a choice of where to go...Jamaica/TT/Barbados might NOT be high on a Bermudian's list of places to study.

Future MOE Quote: "You see? We don't need these ODT Passports anymore & the tuition breaks to 200-year old Universities in Europe...we have UWI!"

sheesh

Hmmmm.... so what could very well happen is that Bermuda sends X amount of dollars to UWI each year but only Y amount of Bermudians actually make use of it. Are Bermudians now going to be subsidizing students from other islands as well?

Nice.............

Well, in the U.S. and Canada, Bermudian students pay an international student fee. Where do you think this fee goes? It goes to subsidise students from the U.S. and Canada. Are you saying it is ok for our students to subsidise U.S. and Canadian students but not Caribbean students?

I know many of you believe the Caribbean to be backwards but UWI graduates in excess of 110 medical students each year and getting U.S. Board Certified does not appear to be an issue. Many graduates are now practicing full-time in the U.S. When I look at the medical practice here in the Bahamas for example, Bahamian physicians, many of whom graduated from UWI are performing open-heart surgery, by-pass operations, kidney transplants, all forms of plastic surgery, etc. There is a fully function cancer treatement centre owned and operated by Bahamian physicians, there are fully equipped fertility clinics with much success with invitro fertilisation. Can Bermuda, which many believe is so far ahead of countries like Bahamas, say that these medical procedures are being done in Bermuda? No.

Right here on this site, many of you have been calling for greater educational opportunities for Bermudians and yet as soon as this opportunity is presented it is met with criticism, even though you do not know all the details. How many other tertiary level schools have offered anything similar to Bermuda?

Quite pallatable Sandy. Just remember one thing. The Smoking Gun. What really is their beef? Mabe it encompasses it all buutI just don't know........

Guilden - you miss the point. It's not about the "quality" or lack thereof of the UWI. Who knows? i merely raised the question of the vet course that isn't recognised elsewhere - I don't know if it's the same institution.

HOWEVER, that's not the point of the criticism. First, it appears Bermuda may subsidise UWI regardless of whether any Bermudians actually attend. More importantly, shouldn't the thief in charge and the halfwit Horton be setting up a scholarship fund or trust (whatever is the best income earning vehicle) so that Bermudian students, who meet whatever qualification criteria are deemed appropriate, can gain funding/scholarships for study of their choice at the institution of their choice?

This basically says, go to UWI or you don't get anything. Makes me wonder if anyone is getting a kickback?

So Guilden, nice idea, but as with everything attempted by the PLP, bollocksed up in its execution.

D,

I agree it is not the same because the individual pays the tuition for the most part, but don't some of our students receive Government scholarships? Is that not the tax payers' money?

My main point is that criticism is being levied yet the only information that is out there is what was writter in the newpaper article. Shouldn't the criticisms be levied once all the information is available to determine if criticism is really valid? From what I understand, each CARICOM country contributes something toward the operating costs of UWI and with these contributions students from the respective countries received significant discounting of tuition rates. This allows for students who may not otherwise be able to afford a university education to receive one and have the same advantages within their country as those who have parents with pockets deep enough to cover the $20,000 to $50,000 annual tuition for schools in the U.S.

So I am stil trying to understand why all the criticism when these same posters want education to be availabel to the average Bermudian. If this is one way to do it than I see nothing wrong with it.