School principals beg for money

At a press conference yesterday at the Mt Hope Junior Secondary School, the St George East Primary Schools’ Principals’ Association also attacked the Denominational School Boards for withholding monies from principals, and slammed the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) for gross inefficiency. Association president, Trevor Oliver, had called for one policy for both primary school principals and their secondary colleagues, as it pertains to provision of funds.

He said primary schools get absolutely no funding from Government, hence the reason why students are forced to contribute to various fund-raisers at their respective schools. On the other hand, principals of secondary schools receive an annual allocation. He said the time spent by teachers planning fund-raisers to get money for school matters, significantly reduced their delivery of the curriculum.

Oliver said a survey done by the association showed that a school with a staff of 15 teachers and 320 students cost $120,000 a year to run, inclusive of recurrent expenditure. Oliver said the association is recommending that Government provide funds to schools with the relevant accountability and transparency measures in place.

Oliver added that primary school principals were also prepared to give the denominational school boards a fight, if they continued to obstruct the education system by withholding monies to primary schools. Oliver said the National Primary Schools’ Principals’ Association negotiated with the ministry to have $30,000 allocated to principals for minor repairs at schools about a year and a half ago. However, he alleged that "the board knocked that, saying all monies must come through them and principals are starved of funds which is a backward step. "They stand the contempt of principals as they are interfering with the autonomy of school principals," he charged.

He also accused the boards of operating in a "cloak of secrecy with no transparency," saying no one knows how much money the boards get or how much is spent. He said they expected the boards to be their allies, but instead they "get the thumbs down."

The association also said it was tired of hearing promises by the ministry to deliver computers to schools. Oliver insisted that the money allocated to the ministry is simply not trickling down to the benefit of students, as the ministry’s delivery system was poor.

As for the TSC, Oliver described it as an "archaic dinosaur" body which, because of its inefficiency, has 70 percent of principals and vice-principals holding acting positions.