The closure of Richmond Gabriel University (RGU) is estimated to have resulted in a direct loss to the Vincentian economy of just over EC$2 million, says Minister of Finance, Camillo Gonsalves.
Gonsalves told Parliament that the money is made up of student spending of EC$1.5 million — or about EC$50,000 by each of the 30 non-Vincentian students per year — and loss of wages of EC$506,688 per annum, assuming all employees were severed because of the closure.
He was responding to a question from East Kingstown MP, Fitz Bramble, an opposition lawmaker, who said that the medical school, which was located in Arnos Vale, closed its doors some months ago.
Bramble, an economist, asked the finance minister to say what was the impact of the closure of this institution on the East Kingstown economy and the national economy as a whole.
He also asked Gonsalves to say what, if anything, was being done to use the vacant facility for economic benefit.
In June, sources familiar with the operations at RGU told iWitness News that it had packed up and moved out of the country, allegedly leaving behind a cadaver — a human body used to teach medicine — even as the electricity supply to its campuses had been disconnected.
The university also left unpaid wages and salaries, taxes and other utility bills, resulting in the government seizing two of its vehicles.
In his response to the opposition MP’s question in Parliament, the finance minister said that RGU was insisting that it has not closed its doors and that it is currently engaging in online schooling.
He said the university was further insisting that it intends to continue utilising space at other locations in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the school has written the government to the effect.
“However, while I note the disclaimer by Richmond Gabriel, I agree with the Honorable Member for East Kingstown and his assessment that the school has closed its door,” Gonsalves said.
“We all have eyes, and we are of the opinion that the school is seeking greener pastures elsewhere.”
The finance minister said that he did not have data on the impact of the closure of the medical school on East Kingstown.
In giving the national data, however, Gonsalves pointed out that most of the foreign staff and students of RGU rented apartments in the areas from CEntral Kingstown to East St. George.
He pointed out that RGU was one of four medical schools operating in SVG, alongside Trinity Medical School, All Saints University and the St. James School of Medicine.
Gonsalves said the average number of students in the medical schools each academic year from 2018 to 2023 was 953 students.
However, data for the 2022-2023 academic year puts the medical student population at 1,080.
“There is no gainsaying the value of having 1,080 overwhelmingly foreign students residing full-time in St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” the finance minister said.
He said Statistical Office data indicate that the average annual per capita expenditure of medical students over the period 2019 to 2022 was EC$50,000 per head.
“In other words, an estimated $54 million was spent by medical students in the economy in 2022. That’s for all medical schools.”
Gonsalves said that at the time of its closure, RGU had a student body of 45 — 15 of whom were Vincentians — and employed 26 persons.
He said that a piece of positive news that Bramble might have missed was that Saint James School of Medicine began construction of a brand new state-of-the-art campus in Golden Vale in April.
“And then there’s a phase 2 for additional laboratories, libraries and classrooms, from which they plan to expand their offerings and consolidate their student bodies from other regional Saint James Universities, which will provide a significant boost to the medical school population here in SVG.
“And, similarly, the Trinity School of Medicine … has detailed plans to add an additional laboratory and additional classroom space to their campus to spur increased enrollment there,” Gonsalves said, adding that the “resultant projected increases in enrollment will more than offset the economic loss related to the departure of the 30 foreign students at the Richmond Gabriel school”.
He said that from a strictly educational standpoint, Saint James School of Medicine has made an explicit commitment to enroll increased numbers of Vincentian students, both in medical and pre-med courses, to qualify them for medical school.
As regards the facilities vacated by RGU, Gonsalves noted that the government is converting the campus at Arnos Vale to a temporary campus for students from Union Island, which was severely impacted by Hurricane Beryl, on July 1.
He said that an existing medical school as well as the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College Nursing School have expressed an interest in occupying the campus after the Union Island students return to their usual schools.
Richmond Gabriel University and All Saints are the same school. They went through a name change during accreditation.