1.2 Financing

Trinidad and Tobago allocated about 4% of GDP to Education in the early 1990s, rising to 4.5% by 1995. This represented about 13% of government expenditure. The government “ has made education reform the center piece of future social development strategies” (Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, 1995). The stated goals are: “(a) preparing children for primary school; (b) providing quality education at the primary level and easing the transition from primary to secondary schools; and (c) improving public institutional capacity to accomplish (a), (b), and other educational objectives effectively and efficiently” (World Bank 1995, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago 1993). Point (c) - improving institutional capacity - has not been reflected in investment in the teacher education system which has changed little.

Primary education accounted for 46% of the education budget, secondary 38%, post-secondary including Teachers’ Colleges 4%, and tertiary 7% (World Bank 1995:112) in the mid-1990s. At this time primary recurrent costs per student appear to have been about $TT⁵1,298, secondary $TT 2,058, vocational and technical $TT 3,767, teacher training $TT 1,1341, and tertiary $TT 20,953 (at 1985 prices). Teacher training thus costs about ten times as much as providing a primary school place. Direct student costs per capita as a percentage of GDP were 10%, 16%, 29%, 98% and 161% respectively for the different levels. 95% of the Ministry of Education’s expenditure is recurrent, with salaries accounting for about 70%.

⁵ $TT = 6.30 $US

Table 5 shows the percentages of the expenditure on education allocated to various sectors during the period 1994-1998. The expenditure on teacher training is relatively low. There have been no major repairs or expansion works on the Training Colleges over the past five years. Expenditure on primary education is larger than that on secondary education because of the thrust towards improving education at the basic education level over the past few years. Capital expenditure on secondary education has been minimal in the last decade. Budgeting procedures are not apparently based on capitation and projected enrolments at the different levels. They appear to depend on historic, incremental budgeting with additions influenced by macro-economic conditions and the exigencies of the contemporary policy debate in any given year.

Table 5: Expenditure on Education by Level 1994-97

It is important to note that the costs of primary teacher education include not only direct College costs but also the salaries of trainee teachers. In 1996 about $TT18 million was allocated to the teacher education salaries budget. Of this about $TT 3 to 4 million flows to lecturers and other support staff. The bulk of the remainder pays the salaries of trainees during a period when they are in full-time training.