In Trinidad and Tobago, the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (GATE) programme has expanded access to tertiary education by making it more affordable. An average of some 53,000 students have benefited annually from this programme over the past five years. Total expenditure on GATE is equivalent to one-tenth of the total recurrent education (secondary and tertiary) budget over the same period.
It is not only the level of GATE spending that is important but also the effectiveness of that spending, which needs to better aligned to economic priority areas and to future skill needs.