Concerns raised over subsidies delay

DELAYS in subsidies for schools are affecting programmes and projects.
“School administrators are left in suspense when parental component also comes in late too,” St Peter’s Primary School headmaster William Kennedy said over the weekend.
Mr Kennedy said the Education Department and provincial education divisions should also justify the sum paid out to schools.
He said each year, the subsidies varied and were not relative to the number of students enrolled at a particular school.
More than 100 school board members, teaching staff, head masters and principals from 33
primary schools, one high school, a secondary and technical vocational training  centre in Bulolo district, Morobe province, held a forum last Thursday to voice their concerns.
They unanimously said the bureaucracy was failing its responsibility and affecting students learning.
At the rural districts, teaching guides and teaching and learning materials were not received on time, they said.
In some areas, parents and school boards of management complained that teachers were not turning up on time.
In a remote Bulolo district, 400 students at Bia Waria Community School in Waria LLG were still waiting for teachers.
Last year, the board said the school began classes in June.
“If the Education Department talks about improving standards, how do we expect to improve
the standard with less or no facilities, resources and staff,” Grace Memorial deputy principal academic, Lupain Philips, said. 
He urged that the subsidies should be deposited into each district’s school account at the end of the year so it could be easily accessed in the new year to implement the plan.
Bulolo MP Sam Basil, who was at the gathering, said the Education Department must publish the amount, the cheque number and school names and distribute to schools and publish a copy in newspapers.