– Critchlow Labour College subvention still in limboGovernment has not yet taken a decision to whether it would back a call to increase tuition fees at the University of Guyana (UG).Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, on Tuesday said that while the issue is engaging the attention of Government, no monies as further subsidy have been allocated this year in the budget to offset any possibilities of a fee increase.The Minister was being questioned Tuesday night by Members of Parliament during considerations of the estimates of the 2013 National Budget.Education Minister,Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale, Priya ManickchandUG has been struggling to maintain the campus, meet overheads and introduce new programmes. It has targeted tuition fees as a means of raising much needed cash.Government, as part of its subvention to UG last year, had allocated $621M. This year, it has set aside $680M.The Ministry’s budget, some $28.7B,NFL Jerseys Sale, was approved shortly before midnight.According to Manickchand, Government continues to have a “deep interest” in the Turkeyen campus.Earlier, Deborah Backer,Jerseys From China Online, a Parliamentarian for A Partnership For National Unity (APNU), said that her side was not inclined to back any raise in tuition for UG students, especially as the Constitution guarantees free education for all Guyanese.Another critical issue raised that night was the withdrawal of a subvention to Critchlow Labour College. The subvention was withdrawn by the Bharrat Jagdeo administration a few years ago after the government said it wanted management there to account for how the monies are being spent. The college was described as a critical institution for providing continuing education.Observers have accused Government of withdrawing the subvention because of the college’s apparent closeness to a number of unions considered to be not so friendly to the government.During the consideration of the Education Ministry’s estimates, issues like the school feeding programme, the Guyana Learning Channel, training, welfare officers and contract employees, were discussed.Of the $28.7B for the Ministry, $214.9M was allocated to the National Education Policy; $1.1B on Training and Development and $7.2B on Education Delivery.According to Government, a total of $139B has been allocated from 2008 to 2013 to finance the National Education Strategic Plan and a new five-year plan is currently being developed.APNU’s member, Africo Selman, inquired about budgeted salary increases for some sectors such as the main office of the Education Ministry, to which Minister Manickchand responded that the number of staffers remain the same,? but increased salaries were budgeted for as the incoming staffers were taking up senior positions.APNU’s MP,Cheap Jerseys China, Deborah BackerAPNU’s Backer queried whether the amount for the Guyana Book Foundation was adequate given the work that it catered for, but the Minister explained that it was merely a subsidy for the Non Governmental Organisation and as such there was a limit on how much assistance could be offered by Government.The increased costs for the National School Feeding Programme were questioned by APNU member Amna Ally.? The Education Minister responded that this was previously funded from an external source and government was filling the gap created by catering for both hinterland and coastal students.The Minister said that approximately 64,Jerseys NFL Wholesale,000 students benefit from the feeding programme and included 48 hinterland communities.Government will also pay the previously externally funded incentives to teachers being posted to hinterland locations. Teachers from Regions One, Seven,NFL Jerseys China, Eight and Ten are catered for under this programme, according to the Education Minister.Details for rehabilitation works to be undertaken were also given and these included repairs to the National Resource Center, The Cyril Potter College of Education and several others.The education sector will be boosted with the addition of 409 newly trained teachers expected to enter the education system in August 2013, while another 41 teachers will complete the requirements for certification under the Trained Teacher’s Certificate Programme, a further 68 in-service teachers in Regions One and Nine will continue to access the Trained Teacher’s Certificate, while 366 students will continue to access the Associate Degree in Education at the coastal centers and Linden.The move towards increasing Information Technology in schools will see 14 laboratories in the Science and Technology Faculties rehabilitated; with full internet connectivity to all