Fees scheme officers to pay parents in 14 days

Story by LARRY ANDREW
PARENTS and students from nine districts of Morobe province last Tuesday converged on the Tutumang Haus to demand their school fees under the England-Papua New Guinea education grant scheme.
They were told by officers involved in the scheme that money had been deposited into the school accounts and that they should go and check with the schools.
But that did not go down well with the crowd who “booed” the officers and demanded a refund.
The crowd waited outside the provincial headquarters until the two officers who instigated the education grant scheme told them in the presence of the police that they would reimburse the K89,000 collected.
A mother from the Salamaua local level government area, who was in the group, said she came to know about the scheme through one of the staff members of Tutumang who hailed from her area.
They were told to deposit money with the scheme operators and that the rest would be covered by the education grant scheme.
She said this never eventuated and she had to pay the full school fees of K1,000-plus for her two daughters.
The parents and the students were told return on March 22 when refunds would be made.
They were told it would take 14 days to clear the money from the bank.