Government yesterday announced it will join a scheme helping to cut the cost of education for university students.

Premier Ewart Brown said the Government has accepted an invitation from the University of the West Indies to become a 'contributing country' — where a nation pays a significant amount of a student's tuition costs.

The University of the West Indies has three campuses, in Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad.

A fourth campus, mostly as an online education option, was just recently launched.Dr. Brown said: "Public school education reform is high on the agenda of this Government.

"We have also proven our commitment to making post-secondary education more widely available by increasing scholarship awards and putting plans in place to make Bermuda College free. "Today I am pleased to announce a new initiative to further this effort, an initiative to be led by Education Minister (Randolph) Horton.

"The Bermuda Government has embarked on a journey to become a financial contributor to the University of the West Indies which would give all Bermudians the opportunity to attend the school at deeply discounted tuition rates."

He said the Minister, and a team he is assembling, would work out the specific details, but the Premier said that contributing countries typically secure as much as 80 percent in tuition discounts for their citizens, leaving the student to pay only the remaining 20 percent.

Currently there are 15 contributing countries with Bermuda intending on being number 16. No further details of the programme were released.

"Senator Marc Bean, our CARICOM advisor, has already received a letter from the vice chancellor at UWI inviting the Government of Bermuda to begin the process of becoming a contributing country. We intend to accept his invitation," said Premier Brown.

"It is our goal, wherever possible, to eliminate cost as an obstacle to higher education. We believe by making quality education available to as many Bermudians as possible we will build a bridge to a more successful society and an improved quality of life for us all."