BSP waiting for Education to disburse remaining fees

BANK South Pacific only facilitates the disbursement of the national government’s tuition fees under the free education policy when the Education Department provides details of schools.
The bank made this statement in response to an article in The National yesterday headlined “WHP school faces closure”.
The article said a school in Western Highlands province faced closure because it was still waiting for funds to be disbursed to its bank account under free education policy.
It said the problem was not with the government but with the bank, which had not transferred the funds and would be held responsible if the school closed.
“This is misleading and unsubstantiated,” the bank said.
“BSP wishes to clarify that it is waiting to receive additional school account information from the Department of Education, so it can disburse the remaining funds.
“The Department of Education supplies the name, bank and bank account details of schools to which these funds are directed.”
The bank said from the first allocation of K300 million, it had disbursed K232 million electronically to school accounts.
“This includes schools with accounts in other banks, as well as BSP. 
“We are working closely with the department, including education officials in the pro­vinces, to ensure all funds are disbursed accordingly.
“We are playing our part in this process,” the bank said.