Had it not been for government's intervention in paying the difference in school fees that were increased by the University of Belize for the upcoming school year, it would have been a rocky start for UB's administration as students had expressed their intent to protest if the fees were not kept at the original price. But now government has given it's undertaking to pay for the increase and while the university students are breathing a sigh of financial relief, the university's administration is also breathing a sigh of relief. President of UB's Dr. Corinth Morter Lewis told us as much today.
Dr. Corinth Morter-Lewis, UB President
"We don't really need at the beginning of the academic year to have our students not settled and not ready to begin academic year because that is important. The issue is, maybe part of what also created the problem was that it was short notice. We didn't have a lot of time. We had to go through certain processes including meeting with the board to get it cleared. And so it sort of came at a relatively short notice. But the increase in fees, as I keep on saying on, is not something that is unexpected at a university.
I know that as a public institution and as a national institution we want as much support as we can from the government to make it run effectively and efficiently and to give the students what we feel, as university students, what they deserve. But there's a cost to education and for us, at the University of Belize, one of the things I keep saying is that our fees are the lowest, or was the lowest in the country, I think, apart from Wesley College.
Now with the government taking up this particular issue with them at this period in terms of meeting the costs, we still have future years to deal with and we will have to work with the students and moved it forward. There are probably some different things we can do in terms of how we address the fees in the future but I don't think it is something we can get away from."
Alfonso Noble,
So even in the future when government decides they cannot take up that slack anymore, we imagine that students will still have to end up paying more.
Dr. Corinth Morter-Lewis
"We will have to have that happen. I don't think we can avoid it, really and truly. We will have to get back at it at some point in time. But I guess we will have the rest of the year to work through that issue with the students so that come the new academic year, we're ready and there is less of the kind of concern and unrest that the students were feeling in terms of whether or not first of they could meet it for some of them because I believe also that some students can afford to pay but yes it is a relief. It is good to start the academic year and have everybody on board, new and old students."
There is no indication how long government will be footing the bill for increased educational costs at the university but Lewis says that issue will sooner or later have to be dealt with the students.
