Since revealing information surrounding possible tuition increases at The College of the Bahamas (COB), the college’s union of students’ (COBUS) president has received several warnings from senior administration at the college.
COBUS President Ernesto Williams said yesterday he now has to appear before the college’s disciplinary board for lifting the lid on the effects governmental budget cuts can have on the student body.
“I was told by the office administrators that the vice president of student affairs wanted to speak to me. According to COB’s president, I was told not to put the information up on our Facebook page and I still did. They told me that it was a blatant disrespect to the president and that we must immediately take it down. So we did,” he said.
“Shortly after that I got a written letter of warning from senior administration here at COB. We in COBUS immediately feel that it is a blatant disregard and disrespect if you don’t the individuals who have this college running informed about what’s going on,” he added.
Mr. Williams said that when he asked COB’s president if he could release the information to the student body, she said, “Once you make sure it’s a draft and it’s proposed I don’t see too much of an issue with it.”
According to the English Education Major, COB is en route to raising tuition costs, which could take effect as early as the fall 2013 semester, as a result of the government reducing its subsidies to the college.
In detail the reduction is expected to be 10 per cent for the 2013-2014 fiscal year, 25 per cent 2014-2015 and 45 per cent within the next five years.
In a press statement yesterday, COB confirmed that the figures surrounding the government funding decrease are accurate and that it will indeed have a grave impact on the operating budget at a critical transitional period for the institution.
“Nevertheless, we have embarked on a process to involve our constituents; faculty, staff, students and bargaining agents in deliberations over how the institution may make its operations more efficient, while bolstering existing sources of revenue and developing new ones. There are no plans to reduce staff levels,” the college said.
Attempts made by the Bahama Journal to speak with Minister of Education, Science and Technology Jerome Fitzgerald and COB’s president were unsuccessful.
