‘Don’t send children home’

SCHOOLS in Western Highlands must not send students home because of non-payment of project fees, a senior official says.
Provincial education adviser Martin Marr said many parents had complained that some schools were threatening to send students home while some had done so.
He said the Government had directed that no student was to be sent home for non-payment of project fees.
“If schools and their boards in Western Highlands are doing this, then this can be seen as disobeying a Government direction,” he said.
Marr warned that action could be taken to deal with schools that defied the Government direction.
“Just give parents time to pay as the nation has been hit by the Coronavirus (Covid-19), and many parents have lost their jobs while some find it hard to make money through marketing and other means they normally did in past years,” he said.
“You should not force or threaten them, this is not the way to go unless you have a separate law for your school.”
Marr said the Government direction was clear and school with their boards should not go out of the mark.
He called on parents and students who had been sent home to approach his office so that the matter could be dealt with.
“I will follow the direction of the Government to make sure no schools in the province sends children away for non-payment of (project) fees.”