The government is out of touch with The College of the Bahamas (COB) – only he who feels it knows it.
I wish to publicly support the College of the Bahamas Union of Students (COBUS) and its president for recent statements made in protest to proposed budget cuts at the college. To borrow a line from the COBUS press release, the proposed cuts in government subsidies to COB are an “autocratic, visionless attempt to cripple the national institution”. COBUS added: “This may be the straw to finally cripple our national ability to educate our own citizens.”
As a proud alumna of The College of the Bahamas, I can honestly say only he who feels it knows it.
The minister of education was quoted in yesterday’s Guardian as stating that the proposed cuts, which are scheduled for COB, “should be done without affecting the college’s level of service”. That statement proves how out of touch he is. Perhaps he and other ministers who sit in lofty places need to try and put themselves in the students’ shoes.
Notwithstanding the stellar education that students obtain at COB, it is no secret that there are administrative issues such as the dated registration process and the unavailability of classes, which continue to plague students. Budget cuts will not solve these longstanding issues.
How can this government, on the one hand, continue to press for the establishment of the University of The Bahamas but yet, on the other hand, ask the college as well as other agencies to, in the words of Ryan Pinder, “review their finances with an eye to cost savings”. No doubt the consequence of budget cuts or “cost savings” will be an increase in fees, which will be a rod for the backs of thousands of students.
The government needs to be reminded that for thousands of Bahamians (I was one of them for seven years) The College of the Bahamas is the only place where they will be able to obtain a tertiary education. Going abroad to university is still a luxury for many. Therefore, the government ought to be exercising some intellectual muscle to determine how to financially empower and not financially weaken our great college.
I remain forever grateful for the many years I spent at the college. It was there I was molded into the citizen that I have become. As I watched the president of COBUS’ lamentations, I sadly said to myself only he who feels it knows it. This government is clearly out of touch with the students at The College of the Bahamas. This can’t be the government who ‘Believes in Bahamians’ and who promised that it would “double” its investment in education.
The future University of The Bahamas should not fall victim to subsidy cuts while the government is contemplating increasing the salaries and benefits to Parliamentarians; the constructions of a new complex to house the Senate and House of Assembly and the purchase and or construction of a prime minister’s residence.
In addition, the government has re-employed a number of retired civil servants, by way of contract – some of whom receive salaries in the high five-figure range. To add insult to injury the re-hires, for the most part, have been assigned positions occupied by tenured civil servants who have either been redeployed to lower level positions while receiving the salary of the previous positions held, or sent home on full salary to await redeployment.
There are numerous other instances of waste, unfettered government spending and incompetent management and deployment of resources which have brought The Bahamas to this place.
Buyer’s remorse is growing.
By: Heather L. Hunt, Senator
Nassau, Bahamas
February, 2013
