I COMMEND and support the free education policy as outlined by Southern Highlands provincial education adviser Robert Rami on Jan 24.
He is correct in stating that parents and guardians ought to be responsible for the children’s future and should pay 40% component of the fees.
The rest is met by the Southern Highlands provincial government and parents should not put the burden on the present government, which is trying to provide services and regain lost pride.
As a parent and a teacher, I have noted over the years the outcome of the free education policy practised by the past governments. They are:
n Poor performance of students as they know their parents or guardians do not sweat to pay for their fees;
n Stationeries and food rations do not reach school in time or as scheduled and resulted in closure of schools (some temporarily);
n Misuse and mismanagement of funds in the chain of service provision;
n Schools do not have the capacity in terms of buildings and materials as promised by the authorities of free education;
n Schools are highly populated and the ratio of students to teachers is very high, thus overcrowding in schools and fast consumption of schools’ food rations;
n Older people who are married, flock to school and force themselves in the classrooms and perform very poorly, thus bringing down the average performance of the schools;
n Social effects on students as parents and guardians give the students a lot of money and the money is used on alcohol, drugs, cigarettes and list goes on; and
n Finally, only Tari Secondary School did well as the parents had to pay for the school fees compared to other secondary schools in Southern Highlands province.
I would further suggest that parents should discipline their children and inform them of the importance of education and their future.
They should encourage their children to go to church.
Parents and guardians, let’s not sit back and wait for the sun to shine but do something now for the future.
Remember that God will only help you if you learn to help yourself.

Souths strong pela
Via email