THE GOVERNMENT'S grant to the University of the West Indies (UWI) from the national budget is set to decrease. At the same time, more funds should be flowing to the University of Technology (UTech) if Parliament's Standing Finance Committee approves the proposed provisions in the Estimates of Expenditure.

Figures contained in the proposed national Budget indicate that the Government's recurrent expenditure grant to the UWI has been reduced from $7.59 billion last year to $6.9 billion this year.

The amount allocated for UTech has been proposed to increase from $1.6 billion to $1.9 billion.

Meanwhile, the Government has barely increased boarding grants to the UWI. Some $29.8 million was allocated for this purpose last year and the Government is intending $30.4 million this year.

The Ministry of Education was one of the big winners in the allocation in the national Budget. It is projected to benefit from $7.4 billion more in recurrent funds. Just over $68.22 billion is projected to be spent, up from the $60.75 billion last year.

Agricultural training institutions are set to benefit from funds to do repair and maintenance work from the education budget.

The Sydney Pagon Agricultural High School in St Elizabeth has been allocated $40 million, up from $20 million last year.

Similarly, Knockalva Agricultural School in Hanover has been earmarked for $30 million worth of repairs, while the College of Agriculture, Science and Education is set to get $8 million to effect repairs to its buildings.