ESP helping parents with fees

EAST Sepik Governor Allan Bird has announced that the provincial government will pay 50 per cent of the parental component of the school fees from elementary to grade 12.
He said this would cost the Government close to K6mil and was consistent with what his administration did last year.
The programme is expected to benefit 134,000 students in the province.
Bird said they had advised parents that the annual grant for facility maintenance in schools was under review and, as of next year, untied grants would no longer be given to schools. “The previous agreement encourages misapplication of education funds and we will streamline the process for better results,” he said.
“All tertiary students are encouraged to check with their respective DDAs (district development authority) for assistance or to apply for the National Government’s higher education loan programme.
“School boards are encouraged to improve their governance of the schools and provide strong oversight of funding going to the schools.
“In the meantime, schools wishing to charge project fees should get clearance from the provincial education board before doing so.”
Bird also reminded parents that the education of the children was a shared responsibility and parents needed to plan for the education of their children and not depend entirely on the State.
“Many of our children are not being educated properly because parents are not doing their part in the process and expecting teachers to do all the work,” he said.
“Much of the child’s attitude development begins at home.”