Ministry cautions schools about fees

Jul 21, 2016 News

-issues acceptable guidelines

No child should be denied registration to any school due to their inability to pay associated fees. This is according to an advisory issued by the Ministry of Education yesterday.
The Ministry was inclined to release a statement to this effect after it noted with concern that some school administrators have been requesting significant sums of money for the registration of new students to Nursery, Primary and Secondary Schools.
According to the Ministry, the request for this payment is being made under the pretext that such sums were previously agreed upon by the Parent Teacher Association (PTA).
The Ministry, moreover, pointed out that it has given great consideration to the needs of schools and has therefore provided guidelines for non-Budgetary costs. Among them is that no child should be denied registration, as children have a right to schooling and must be registered.
The PTA for each school, according to the Ministry, has been authorized to conduct fundraising activities to support school administration to offset non-budgetary costs including: badges, PTA dues, report booklets and miscellaneous.
Such activities, according to the Ministry, must be promoted to strengthen the partnership between schools and the community. It was also noted that if the activities, planned and executed by the PTA do not generate the income to offset non-budgetary costs, then stipulated guidelines must be followed.
Detailed in the guidelines is that children at Nursery level schools should not be charged more than $2,500 per year. At the Primary level, the cost should not surpass $3,000 and be no more than $5,000 at the Secondary level.
For National Secondary Schools or specified sixth form schools, including Queen’s College, The Bishops’ High, St. Stanislaus College, St. Rose’s and St. Joseph, no more than $8,000 per year should be charged.
According to the Ministry, “These sums were carefully considered for all non-budgetary costs, as such, no additional request must be made from parents.”
“There must be no compulsion for students to purchase P. E. clothes, aprons for Home Economics, Lab Coats, Tie-pin inter alia from the school. Parents of nursery children should not be issued with any list of supplies to be purchased,” the Ministry has advised.

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