Bajan PM defends end of free tertiary education

(Barbados Nation) Prime Minister Freundel Stuart suggested last night that free tertiary education was never intended  to last forever.

He was defending  his Government’s controversial decision to stop paying tuition fees for Barbadian students at the University of the West Indies (UWI).

The Prime Minister contended that his administration was taking the necessary steps to ensure the country’s economic soundness.

In his contribution  to parliamentary debate on the 2013 Financial Statement And Budgetary Proposals, Stuart said the Government was doing the best it could and people were simply being asked to contribute to their  own development.

He noted that as far back as 1968, Barbados’ first Prime Minister, Errol Barrow, who introduced free tertiary education  had indicated that the full extent of Government’s contribution to the university could not  last forever.