Students cannot be sent home over fees default

HEADMASTERS and school board of management (BOM) in the Southern Highlands province must not send children home for non-payment of fees, provincial education adviser Robert Rami said in Mendi yesterday.
Mr Rami made the call following reports that several high schools in the province turned away students last week and ordered them to come back this week with full fees.
Southern Highlands Governor Anderson Agiru last week announced in Mendi that the provincial government would pay a 50% subsidy fees for all students in the province.
Mr Agiru also announced a committee to coordinate and pay 50% of tuition fees for all Southern Highlands students attending various tertiary institutions in the country.
He said about K3 million from the Moran Oil project development levy would be used to pay for about 70,000 students subsidy fees for the first quarter of this year.
Meanwhile, Mr Rami urged teachers, BOM and parents to observe the fees structure for this year as follows;
* Elementary – K36 school fees with between K20 and K40 project fees per child;
* Lower Primary – (Grade 3-5) K60 school fees with between K50 and K70 project fees;
* Upper Primary – (Grade 6-8) K60 school fees with between K80 and K100 project fees;
* High School – (Grade 9-10) Day students K300 school fees with between K120 and K150 project fees;
* High School – (Grade 9-10) Boarding students K440 school fees with between K160 and K200 project fees;
* Secondary School – (Grade 11-12) Day students K320 school fee with between K160 and K200 project fees; and
* Secondary School – (Grade 11-12) Boarding students K520 school fee with between K160 and K200 project fees.