This government has announced that it will present the 2020 National Budget in Parliament on Monday, October 7, 2019.
The presentation of this Budget comes in the wake of the retrenchment of 199 non-academic workers at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) last month.
In May last year, 59 workers were also retrenched by the university.
All these retrenchments have come about because of the drastic decrease in the Budget allocation to UTT by about $200 million. The Government provides the bulk of funding for the operation of its national university.
There is much wastage of taxpayers’ money in UTT through duplication of programmes that are already being offered by the University of the West Indies (UWI) in St Augustine.
One example is Criminology. The other is Carnival Studies in the Academy of Letters based at the John Donaldson Campus in Port-of -Spain.
The number of students in this academy is about nine. Yes, nine students. Through UTT, the Government is spending about $92,000. on each student per semester. A degree in Carnival Studies has long been offered by Department of Creative and Festival Arts (DCFA) at UWI in St Augustine. Besides, where can one find a job with a degree in Carnival Studies?
Why duplicate it at UTT? Why waste taxpayers’ money in the Budget?