By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

TUITION for every Bahamian student attending the College of the Bahamas (COB) should be absolutely free.

That was the message of COB’s Council Chairman Alfred Sears yesterday as he explained that officials are laying the framework for an endowment to be set aside for the benefit of college students.

The news also comes after last month’s announcement that the Council had approved an increase in full time student parking fees from $20 to $50. Part-time students are to pay $25. The technology fee will increase from $100 to $120 for all students during the fall and spring semesters.

Mr Sears was speaking as a guest on a local radio talk show.

“We’re trying to develop a plan,” Mr Sears said, “to build the endowment of the institution. This is not a fairy-tale life we are living. The question is if we have an objective, how do we rationally plan over a short period of time.

“I begin with the assumption that the most critical thing in the Bahamas is not the foreign direct investor (but) the most critical resource is every single Bahamian.

“Now that resource needs the maximum opportunity to be nurtured, to be developed (and) to be cultivated so that it can realise the full potential of every Bahamian.”

He further appealed to citizens to support COB’s effort to establish a proper endowment fund.

“This is a resource this is an incubator for our children and future generations of Bahamians to contribute financially to the institution.”

Tempers have flared for months now not only over COB’s non-essential fee increase, but over speculation that the government planned to cut the College budget.

Last month, a group of COBUS representatives were denied entry to the House of Assembly following a peaceful protest in Rawson Square over the increases. COBUS representatives have also taken Mr Sears to task on the matter demanding to know why their recommendations were not taken into consideration.

However, College President Dr Betsy Vogel-Boze said officials were dealing with a situation in which the cost of almost everything had increased warranting the new charges.

“While we hate to put the burden on our students, much of this is actually being absorbed by the college through the other reductions.

“Our cost of faculty and staff have gone up, our cost of insurance, our costs of gasoline, our cost of electricity and everything else has increased. Our fees have remained largely the same during that time and our subvention has remained largely the same, during that time – although fluctuating a bit due to the cost of living and the size of our enrolment.”