Appeal to lower tertiary fees

I PRESENT this view on behalf of the thousands of parents and guardians of university and college students in government-run institutions.
I appeal to Prime Minister James Marape, minister for Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology and all the MPs in Parliament to work together and lower the fees in institutions.
As an educator and someone who benefitted from learning in two government-run universities in the 1990s and 2000, I urge you all to do something about this policy.
This user-pay policy was forced upon our nation by an outside organisation in 1994 and has marginilsed our people to this day.
It seems only those students with money will enter tertiary institutions, while other capable students will forgo studies because of the high fees charged tertiary institutions.
For those of us who attended universities in the 1980s or early 1990s, we paid almost nothing.
Why then should we burden the parents and guardians of this generation?
That is completely unfair.
I am sure many of you ministers and MPs paid almost nothing, like me, to access tertiary education back in the 1990s.
Is it fair that we not allow this high fees to burden today’s parents and guardians.
Thirdly, this user-pay policy is a foreign concept that is protecting interests that are not ours.
Who will take this nation forward in the coming decade?
It will be these children who are now attending those intitutions.
Are we sure that all the brightest students are given the chance to upgrade their learning?
I don’t think so.
This user-pay policy will only allow the privileged children to attend universities and colleges while some less privilege but bright students from rural areas will remain in their villages and plant kaukau, vanilla and cocoa to sustain themselves and their family.
Consequently, we in PNG will not maximise our potential.
For these reasons, I urge the Government, the ministry responsible and MPs to do something about these high fees.
Raise this issue in Parliament and come up with a plan to better subsidise our government institutions and lower these fees.
I know you have brains, so put them to work and help our children who are now entering universities and colleges.
Please, lower the high fees charged.

PNG Man