Subsidise registration fee in schools

THE EDITOR: In what is now becoming an annual debate, widespread discussions ensued last week on whether (Government) secondary schools should be allowed to charge fees at registration.  Several citizens chose to express their opinion without a complete understanding of the realities facing schools. Registration fees (by whatever name) are typically not fees charged for attending school. These fees are normally required to pay for items that (a) The vote received from the Ministry of Education does not cover, such as PE uniforms, student homework books, student report books and the cost of maxi-taxi transportation for school groups and teams, or (b) The prices charged by vendors who are willing to take Government invoices are far in excess of what obtains elsewhere, such that the funds allocated to the school are grossly devalued. The National PTA issued a statement that such action was (a) against the law and (b) disadvantageous to those students at the lower strata of society who most desperately need access to education.

What is unfortunate about the action of the NPTA is that it only served to muddy the waters during registration week while not advancing any real solutions to the issue The NPTA must have been aware of this situation; yet in response to a small number of their constituents they chose to cast schools and principals as villains. While all NGO’s have a right to air the concerns of their members, they are also responsible for the education of members and in this case the NPTA did nothing to explain the situation to parents/guardians. What is even more disconcerting is that the Ministry of Education allowed the perception of wrong doing to remain, simply stating that the School Supervisors would monitor the situation. One possible solution is that the Ministry could implement a standard fee, eg, $250 per student registering at a school. Once schools have reported on their registration numbers, a sum equal to the number of students times the standard fee would then be deposited in the school’s bank account for their use.

These funds would need to be accessible prior to the middle of August as this is when school accounts are normally closed. Schools then have to wait until December to access releases following passage of the National Budget. Otherwise, schools would be unable to acquire the items listed above in time for the opening of the school year and the admission of the new students. Such action would remove the need for (a) payment of fees at registration by parents/guardians, (b) eliminate the effort by schools to collect these fees, (c) provide necessary accessories to students and (d) be in keeping with the move to site- based management at schools.  Principals would of course be accountable for the expenditure of these funds (as they are now). With the creation of School Boards, an additional check and balance would be in place to ensure that the funds are used appropriately.

Louis R Hernandez
Diego Martin