The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

FNM Torchbearers Youth Association President Ronique Brown yesterday criticised the government for not being “understanding and sympathetic” towards College of the Bahamas students.

Ms Brown blamed the Christie administration for not taking “the necessary measures to ensure that College of the Bahamas (COB) becomes more accommodating to its students”.

She also criticised the government for going “beyond the call of duty to serve and deliver special favours to their elite and wealthy friends” but being “remarkably absent” when the vulnerable, such as COB students, need assistance.

Her statement came after scores of COB students waited up to eight hours on Monday to pay for classes for the Spring Semester. Due to the long line, all payments were not processed by the deadline forcing students who had not been served to return the next day when they convened under tents expressing frustration with a payment system many said forces students to “endure the unforgiving wait or miss out on needed classes”.

According to reports, the long lines remained well into the waning hours of Monday night.

In a statement on his Facebook page, FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis said students who were not served on Monday were initially told if they did not pay by the January 4 deadline, they would be charged a late fee of $150 plus VAT.

Dr Minnis, who visited the campus on Monday night, said this prompted him to call COB President Dr Rodney Smith who later agreed to extend the deadline to Tuesday without a charge to students.

In a statement late Monday night, the college blamed the students for opting to wait “for the last minute to make payments” and opting not to use the online payment system. COB said the “inordinate amount” of returning students were on the lines attempting to make payments by cash, scholarship or arrange a deferred payment plan.

“While we do encourage all Bahamians to register in advance for all crucial events, we must also encourage the government to be equally as understanding and sympathetic towards the most vulnerable in our society, as they are with the wealthy and powerful to whom they cater to frequently,” Ms Brown said in a press release. “While it is easy to blame the students who stood in the line all day in the rain, let us take time and reflect on the deeper issue of poor management and broken promises by this PLP government which impacts numerous aspects of our lives.”

Ms Brown also encouraged the government to engage COB’s union of students in the conversation surrounding COB’s transition to university status and “take the necessary measures to ensure that COB becomes more accommodating to its students.” She also urged the government to consider the FNM’s proposal to remove VAT on education to make it “more affordable and accessible to our youth”.