The Tuition Refund Programme encourages Government employees to adopt a more disciplined approach to their studies and places the onus on them to be more committed to their study programmes by developing a greater sense of responsibility for their own training and personal development.

1. The Tuition Refund Programme encourages Govern-
ment employees to adopt a more disciplined approach
to their studies and places the onus on them to be
more committed to their study programmes by devel-
oping a greater sense of responsibility for their own
training and personal development.
Public Officers sponsored under the programme are
assisted by the Government of Saint Lucia through
the reimbursement, in part, of eligible training costs
upon successful completion of their studies.
Eligible training costs
include:
 tuition fees;
 the educational
institution’s official examination fees;
 registration fees;
 costs associated with prescribed textbooks.
The programme is cost-effective in that:
 only successful students are reimbursed;
 a learning environment is created in the Public
Service;
 training is provided without disrupting the
normal duties of the public officers;
 it obviates the incurrence of high overseas
training costs.
Successful completion of a programme, however,
does not entitle a Public Officer for automatic pro-
motion.
Eligibility Requirements
To qualify for consideration for inclusion under the
Tuition Refund Programme, Public Officers, at the
time of application, must:
1. have at least three (3) continuous years of
employment in the public service;
2. be on permanent establishment at the time of
application;
3. have an average performance appraisal score,
of his/her three (3) most recent appraisals im-
mediately preceding the application period, of
not less than 75%;
4. not be employed on contract or employed on a
temporary basis in a post which has been es-
tablished for a predetermined period;
5. not be bonded to the Government of Saint
Lucia from a previous award;
6. be supported and recommended for the award
by his/her Agency Head*;
4. be pursuing, or intends to pursue, a study area
that is listed on the applicable List of Approved
Areas for Tuition Refund and Study Leave
without Pay Awards.
5. not be pursuing a course of study at the Doc-
torate level;
6. be pursuing, or intends to pursue, a course of
study that is:
 directly related to his/her current duties; or
 Related to the duties of another post that
he/she has been or will be recommended
for, based on the Agency’s succession plan.
* The List can be obtained at www.govt.lc
Award Conditions
The award conditions for public officers approved by
Cabinet for inclusion under the Tuition Refund Pro-
gramme are as follows:
1. The period for reimbursement commences in
the academic year in which the applicant was
approved by Cabinet;
2. Fifty percent (50%) of eligible expenses are
reimbursed to officers on successful comple-
tion of their programme.
3. Fees incurred for failed courses will not be
refunded;
4. The total amount to be refunded will not ex-
ceed EC$15, 000.00 per award;
5. The officer must sign a Bond Agreement to
serve in the Public Service for a prescribed
minimum period based on the bonding periods
outlined in the table below:
6. The officer has a maximum period of seven (7)
years to complete if he/she is pursuing a Bach-
elor’s Degree or professional accounting pro-
gramme and six (6) years for all other pro-
grammes.
Introduction cont’d
Amount
Reimbursed
Bonding Period
$1—$1, 000 3 months
$1, 001—$3, 000 6 months
$3, 001—$6, 000 9 months
$6, 001—$9, 000 12 months
$9, 001—$12, 000 15 months
$12, 001—$15, 000 18 months

2. TUITION REFUND PROGRAMME
GOVERNMENT OF SAINT LUCIA
Introduction
The Tuition Refund Programme is a Government-
sponsored facility which provides partial financial
support to Government employees to enable them to
pursue relevant education and training programmes
leading to an undergraduate, professional or postgrad-
uate (except doctoral) qualification on a part-time
basis, without undue disruption to their daily work
duties.
The following programmes
are eligible for consideration
under the programme:
 accredited distance
e d u c a t i o n p r o -
grammes which will train persons up to a pro-
fessional level in corporate and management
accounting relevant to the Public Service.
 part-time accredited programmes offered local-
ly by the University of the West Indies (UWI)
and the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College
(SALCC) and other accredited institutions that
are recognized by the Government of Saint
Lucia.
 programmes in areas of specialization which
are considered as priority for Government and
can be pursued through distance learning
mode, or part-time through the University of
the West Indies (UWI) or Sir Arthur Lewis
Community College (SALCC) or other accred-
ited institutions acceptable to the Government
of Saint Lucia.
Application Process
1. Public Officers seek their own admission into
an educational institution. Applicants are ad-
vised to contact the Department of Education
for advice on accredited institutions.
2. Applications must be submitted at the com-
mencement of, or during, and not upon com-
pletion of the programme of study. Comple-
tion of a programme of study automatically
disqualifies an applicant for consideration.
3. The annual deadline date for receipt of applica-
tions by the Department of the Public Service
is the last working day in March.
4. Applications must be made on the requisite
Tuition Refund Application Form and submit-
ted to the applicant’s relevant Department for
onward submission to the Department of the
Public Service.
5. A Statement of Conduct and Work Ethics
form, to be completed by the applicant’s Su-
pervisor or Head of Department, must be
submitted along with the Tuition Refund Ap-
plication Form.
6. The applicant’s three (3) most recent appraisal
scores must be included on the Statement of
Conduct and Work Ethics form in order for
the applicant to be considered.
7. Incomplete or late forms will not be consid-
ered and will be returned to the respective
Departments.
8. The Tuition Refund application forms, the State-
ment of Conduct and Work Ethics form and the
current List of Approved Areas for Tuition Re-
fund and Study Leave without Pay can be ob-
tained at www.govt.lc.
9. All applications must be endorsed by the appli-
cant’s relevant Ministry/Department before it
can be processed.
10. Applicants are informed of the outcome of their
requests by their respective Ministries/
Departments.
11. Once approved, an applicant is required to apply
for reimbursement upon completion of his/her
approved programme of study.
12. Applications for reimbursement must be submit-
ted through the applicant’s respective Ministry/
Department.
13. Proof of successful completion of the pro-
gramme, updated and official academic tran-
scripts, as well as original copies of receipts
must be submitted along with the application for
reimbursement.
14. The Bond Agreement
must be signed and re-
turned to the Training
Division, Department of
the Public Service before
the applicant can receive
any reimbursements.
Application Process cont’d
© 2019
Public Service Training Institute
Department of the Public Service
Union, Castries
Tel #: 468-4187/4189/4179/4178/4188
Fax #: 458-2905 Email: training@publicservice.gov.lc