The Hon. Nigel Clarke, DPhil., MP, is Jamaica's Minister of Finance and the Public Service and is Member of Parliament for St Andrew Northwestern. ...
Miss Darlene Morrison...
The following eligibility criteria will guide the application of refunds:
The following conditions would deem persons not eligible for a refund:
The status and terms of employment prior to and during studies are taken into account when processing the requests for Tuition Refund and benefits, if any, extended accordingly.
In the case of separation, providing the application for refund is submitted as outlined at FAQ 1 bullet 2, all other conditions met, the Officer will be eligible for a refund once the bonding period, if required, has been served. Where the applicant experiences movement across entities during or after completion of studies and there is no break in service or change in the term of employment, the process would not be adversely impacted.
An officer may be reimbursed up to sixty percent (60%) of tuition fees paid, subject to a ceiling of Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000.00) or in keeping with the negotiated percentage and/or in accordance with the provisions of the respective entity’s approved manual.
For the strict purpose of this facility, the table below provides an outline of Submitted on July 30, 2015 the categories under each classification.
UNDERGRADUATE | GRADUATE | POSTGRADUATE |
Certificates | Bachelor’s Degree | Post-grad Certificates |
Diplomas | Association of Chartered | Post-grad Diplomas |
Associate Degrees | Certified Accountants (ACCA Level 2) | PHD |
Certified Accounting | Masters | |
Technician (CAT) Level C | ssociation of Chartered | |
Certified Administrative Professional (CAP) | Certified Accountants (ACCA Level 3) | |
Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA Level 1) |
YES, where an officer applied at least (3) three months before separation if the office was unable to process the payment and the applicant does not need to sign a bond, he/she would still be eligible for the refund providing all other conditions are met. Also, this would constitute involuntary separation; hence, reasonable consideration would be given.
The following is an Extract from GOJ Bonding Policy | Section 5.2 - Bonding Ranges and Period which applies to Public Sector Employees. It is noted however, that some entities overtime developed retrofitted internal bonding arrangements.
Refund Amount | Bond Period | Required # of Guarantors |
Below $300,000.00 | No bond | None |
$300,000.00 - $499, 999.00 | 2 years' service | 1 |
$500,000.00 - $999,999.00 | 3 years' service | 2 |
$1,000,000.00 - $1,999,999.00 | 4 years' service | 3 |
$2,000,000.00 and over | 5 years' service | 3 |
There is also a requirement for applicants to acquire Guarantor(s). Depending on the sum to be refunded the applicant will need guarantor(s) to also sign the bond agreement.
Providing the officer has not yet served his/her bond during the processing period, he/she would be required to sign the Bonding Agreement and serve the bond. Where only a portion of the bond is already served, the officer will be required to serve the remaining period in keeping with the established Bonding guidelines mentioned above. The bonding period begins the first working day after the date of the last examination sat by the applicant.
The programme of study should have received accreditation prior to the commencement of study. However, there are some Institutions that are required to commence the process of accreditation by using the first batch of students. Hence, some receive accreditation retroactively. In such a case the officer may be eligible for the tuition refund when the course is given accreditation by the University Council of Jamaica; providing that the certification /graduation is effected after the date of accreditation.
Programmes/Courses exemption are as follows:
- Relevance to be determined by the Office of the Services Commissions/Competent Authority within the relevant Agencies or Statutory Bodies.
Follow these steps to submit your request for a refund
NOTE: Submitted applications should be accompanied by all required supporting documentation.
Applicants may be contacted post submission in case additional information is needed or for the purpose of seeking clarification.
Applications for tuition refund should be accompanied by the following documentation:
The following are also necessary for the completion of a submission for refund. However, these should be available in the HR Department on the officer’s personal file.
The tuition refund is offered based on successful completion of a course of study. Hence, an application for refund must be made within six (6) months after receiving certification for the programme completed. However, it should not extend beyond one (1) year after the completion of study.
The list below indicates benefits that would exempt an officer from being eligible for a tuition refund:
The roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder group are as follows:
Employee
Human Resource Management Unit
Finance/Accounts Unit
Tuition Refund Steering Committee/Team (this committee/team will be set up by the organization)
Yes. An employee would be eligible to receive a tuition refund while being bonded to the Government of Jamaica, once the bonding period is not in relation to the refund itself but for other purposes. In the event that the officer is also required to serve a bond in relation to the tuition refund the bonding period is applied and counted separately but may be served concurrently.
The request for a refund of tuition fee for an officer who completed studies up to and including March 31, 2009, should have been submitted to the Ministry of Finance and Planning by December 31, 2009, for processing. If the application was not submitted by this deadline then the officer would no longer be eligible to apply for the refund.
However, in cases where entities (agencies/Statutory Bodies) had received applications in keeping with the deadline, but did not process as a result of the facility not yet been set up it is still expected that these will be honoured.
Where requests for refund are made and the officer is eligible but payment cannot be honored due to the unavailability of funds, applications should be chronologically recorded on a waiting list for finalization and disbursement in the next financial year, or once the funds become available, whichever time is shorter.
The Ministry with responsibility for the Public Service is charged with ensuring that all policies established are adhered. The Bonding Policy for the Government service is one such and there should be no attempts to manipulate the established principles. The Ministry is therefore not inclined to support the option to take a lesser amount to reduce the bonding period. Notwithstanding, any such case resulting from extremely unforeseen and unavoidable circumstances must be referred to the Ministry with responsibility for the Public Service for a decision before provisions for processing/payment can be effected. Such request must be initiated by the applicant only.