UTech gets increased subvention
Published:Monday | August 26, 2019 | 12:17 AM
President of the University of Technology (UTech) Stephen Vasciannie has reported that Government subvention to the tertiary institution has increased.
“Our subvention has traditionally been at approximately $2 billion. Over the last two months, we have received a commitment from the Government that they will extend it by $1 billion in respect of this year,” Vasciannie revealed.
In February, students and staff protested at the gates, of the Papine campus about what they described as chronic underfunding of the university when compared to other tertiary institutions.
However, Vasciannie said he did not believe that that had anything to do with the increase in subvention.
“We were already in the midst of negotiations about the increase in subvention,” he told The Gleaner.
“My position has been, and remains, that the subvention increase was a result of negotiations and that the staff and student demonstration was an unnecessary exercise.”
He said the institution has begun to receive some of the additional subvention for the start of the academic year, and the university decides on how it is to be allocated.
“Staff salaries have gone up, but, again, that is as a result of negotiations between the university administration, the staff, and the Government,” Vasciannie said.