Project fees must be less than 20pc of benchmark: Marape

PRIME Minister James Marape says education is free from elementary to grade 12 this year but if schools intend to charge project fees it must not be more than 20 per cent of the school fee benchmark set by the National Education Board.
He was responding to a question by the deputy speaker and Markham MP Koni Iguan to clarify if there were other imposed school fee on the free education policy this year for elementary to grade 12.
“At no instance should school boards be collecting extra school fees except what the National Education Board sets for project fees,” he said
“The range was from 0-20 per cent and that discretion lies for the school board to set.
“We have already disbursed K321million out of K632 million that is being budgeted for the lower education department.
“It is incumbent upon all provincial governors through your provincial administration to ensure that your provincial education board is working with all schools to ensure this year’s academic year starts with minimal disturbance, especially in the face of elections (and) with Covid-19 abound.
“We don’t want to compromise the safety and ease of access to all our students nationwide.”
Marape said because of the tight budget in 2019, 63 per cent of the school fee was subsidised by the Government and 37 per cent was passed back to parents, guardians, districts and provincial governments in the last two years. He said the Coronavurus (Covid-19) pandemic hitting the global and domestic economy has had a direct impact on parents and citizens’ ability to pay school fees.
“We felt responsible as government to lighten the burden of our people by picking also the 37 per cent that they have been paying.”
Marape said the Government was also ensuring full funding for post grade 12, especially those who entered colleges and universities so Hecas and Tesas would continue.