The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, has reported a slight increase in undergraduate enrolment—a positive sign amid financial challenges.
At the Campus Council Meeting on Tuesday, UWI Principal Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine expressed hope that it’s a sign of “brighter days” ahead for the St. Augustine Campus.
“We saw a 1% increase in undergraduate enrolment. A lot of that was from the Faculty of Sciences of 7%, 29% in Sport. But in terms of post-grad enrolment, we saw a decline, no doubt because the funding is no longer readily available.”
She said the university continues its part to increase enrolment across the board.
“Marketing is doing tremendous work. We ourselves, from the Principal’s end, and we do, as you saw, the fairs, etc., which help with recruitment.”
Despite the increase in enrolment, Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Hilary Beckles said the university faces significant financial hurdles, explaining the challenges in securing adequate subvention.
“So the budget of ten dollars is approved, but the contribution from all the Governments would add up to seven dollars. Which means, of course, that we now have to find the three. So to find the three, we need to generate through our own activities at least 50 million US dollars a year. So each campus is asked to take your share of that 50 million.”
Professor Belle Antoine said the local arm of the university is constantly challenged with what she called “low tuition fees.”
“We have not increased our tuition fees for about 24 years, and it’s probably at crisis point. In terms of our tuition fees, we remain the lowest in the region. I’m sure one of the lowest in the world.”
She said while salary increases have been settled with the WIGUT Group and EPA, the OWTU is still not settled. The Campus Principal said this has been a huge “headache” for the university.
“We have begun to see in the last four or five years in particular, huge attrition because of the low salaries that persons prefer not to work here if the salary is not enough and so we’ve had difficulty filling posts as well when persons realise what the salary is, despite all the great work.”
The UWI’s subvention in 2020 stood at TT$102.3 million, while in 2024 this dropped to TT$86.4 million.
Professor Belle Antoine said, “We’ve all had to endure cuts in our budget. We’re down like about 50% from the good old days.”