Latest update December 12th, 2024 1:00 AM
Govt. should consult widely on VAT on private tuition fees
Dear Editor,
The providers of private education are contributing sacrificially and efficiently to the education of a large number of students i.e. young people of this nation and have been doing so cheerfully for a long time at their financial disadvantage and because of this there should be no Value-Added Tax (VAT) on education now.
A majority of those students are from financially poor family who cannot afford an additional financial burden on the family budget. It is palpably evident that in most cases a family is poor but has a child or in some cases children who are academically ahead of their peers and would need the better quality of the education not provided by some of the Government schools in Guyana.
Without wanting to dabble in partisan politics on this vexing and vogue matter of Value Added Tax on private education, I respectfully ask that our Government and all concerned convene a special meeting to thoroughly consult on this matter and or appoint a special national committee of learned men and women to listen to the views on all sides. It is a known fact that most of the private schools in this country provide a better quality of education to children who may one day in the future make significant contributions to the further development of our country.
The children who would benefit from a good quality of education may one day in the future contribute significantly to this country continued development. Not all the students in private education have parents that are rich and can afford the Value Added Tax, but those parents though, do understand the need for a good quality of education which is provided by most of the private education institutions in this country.
This matter of VAT on private education should not be treated as a partisan or racial matter but as an intelligent and common sense matter where private education is now been strangled in the clutches of the tax man.
Finally, may I suggest to the authorities that be, to appoint with haste a national committee of learned men and women to hear and listen to the evidence from both sides of this vexing matter i.e. for and against tax on private education, and let them pronounce. I trust that the powers that be would give consideration to this request. Sorry, Editor I am not a politician to make a better case for no tax on private education but this is my best as a private citizen and a father.
Rooplall Dudhnath
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Raises and Recognition
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- In the movie, Saturday Night Fever, Tony Manero‘s boss offers him a raise after he... more
High-Stakes Bid for OAS Secretary General post
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- The election of a new Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS),... more
Weekend Cartoon
