ECONOMIST recommends CHANGE to GATE funding, and consider graduate TAX programme so students REPAY fees for their tertiary - seems an eminently sensible idea to me. - currently a relatively large proportion of high income earners benefit disproportionately to low he adds Economist Dr Roger Hosein says the Government needs to be more prudent in its delivery of the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (Gate) programme. He said it should consider an income contingent loan programme or a graduate tax programme so students repay the fees for their tertiary level education. Hosein said tertiary level funding must be approached differently in the 2014-2015 fiscal budget, which would be presented by Finance Minister Larry Howai on September 8. In the last eight years, $4.5 billion has been spent on Gate. The figure jumped from $102.1 million in 2004-2005 to $757.6 million in 2012-2013, mainly due to an increase in students’ enrolment, Hosein said. Of particular interest, Hosein said, was the income group $17,000 to $18,999, of which 7.9 per cent accessed Gate funding, while only 0.5 per cent of the income group earning less than $1,000 accessed Gate. Hosein does not believe the Government should scrap Gate.
Posted on: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 12:24:56 +0000