THE EDITOR: In any way I can communicate to the public the horror universities put students through, I will. As it pertains to the increase in registration fees at the University of TT, this is not only impractical but unreasonable. Unreasonable because it comes during a time when people are struggling financially, and I am certain that a high percentage of students will be unable to afford these increased fees.

This is a 300 per cent increase we are faced with, almost triple the amount we pay per academic year. There are students enrolled at UTT who are not GATE-funded and are paying their own tuition, students who are single parents, students who are dependent on parents to pay these costs but who have lost their jobs. This move lacks empathy for the entire student population.

At the beginning of my final year at UTT I began tutoring students privately, hopping to gain experience in my chosen field and this was also a means of income to pay my way through university. When the pandemic hit, this venture halted and from then until now I have been unemployed. How and where am I to find the extra money to pay these fees?

I am also aware of colleagues who are contemplating a leave of absence for this their final year to accumulate the funds needed and return next year. So to the chairman of UTT, Prof Clement Imbert, your option of a payment plan is not a cushion or a safety net and many of us do not want it. We do not have the funds now and the reality for some of us is that we will not have the funds within the next six-12 months.

Accepting your payment plan and being unable to pay will only put students in further financial distress and subsequently some will be denied the opportunity to graduate if fees are outstanding at the end of their final year.

We are mere weeks from the registration period for the upcoming academic year and to date no official memo has been released. We have had to hear about this increase through rumours and only when queries were made were we informed of the change. So when was this information going to be made public to the student body? Three days before the registration period?

Finally, I am aware that the UTT has one of the cheapest registration packages in the country. It's one of the reasons, if not the only reason, most students apply to the institution - to escape financial and educational poverty.

In closing, I am pleading with the university, its staff and stakeholders, please reconsider this decision during this extremely difficult time. This will add a huge strain on the backs of the majority of students.

OLIVIA LEZAMA

via e-mail