Latest update January 28th, 2025 12:59 AM
Jul 12, 2013 News
There are plans in the pipelines for the Ministry of Education to take a stronger role in the operation of private schools. This development is expected to become possible with the passage of the Education Bill which is currently being crafted.
And according to Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, she is hopeful that the proposed piece of legislation will be completed and brought to the National Assembly before Parliament goes into recess in August. However she noted that “it is a lot of work between now and then but we are doing it…we are really trying to bring it so that we can have it looked
at the National Assembly.”
Also for this Bill, regulations are being drafted and “we are reviewing those, so hopefully this is one of those Bills we will take to the National Assembly with regulations already done so we can have both the Act and the Regulations looked at, reviewed and passed at the same time,” the Education Minister said.
She noted that such a piece of legislation will however not seek to address issues such as teachers’ salaries and the fees paid at private schools, but rather, it will examine factors regarding the interest of children.
“We know there are private schools that are not doing what is in the best interest of children and as a member and agency of the State. We have an obligation to make sure that all of our children are treated in a way that their best interest is taken care of.”
Manickchand said that presently the Education Ministry does not have any control over private schools as according to her, “we are a free market country. We can’t dictate what private schools pay or what benefits they should give their teachers…you’d be surprised at what some of the private schools get,” she disclosed during a recent press conference.
And even as the Minister noted that it would not be “business friendly” to disaggregate the performance of the public against private schools, she did disclose that factors such as the salaries paid to some private schools teachers are “much worse than we do in the public school.”
“As teachers you are entitled to pensions and gratuity and Whitley Council and Duty Free allowance, housing allowance, and all kinds of things that the private school teachers do not have,” the Minister asserted.
However, the Ministry has not sought to determine whether the performance of children at public schools is better than those of private schools.
In presenting an analysis of the countries’ schools performance at the 2013 National Grade Six Assessment, Chief Education Officer Olato Sam said that the Ministry did not seek to disaggregate the performance of public and private schools. According to him “I am more concerned about how all children are doing and I am convinced that the schools are using the same curriculum.”
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