K10mil set for school fees: Powi

By PETER WARI
THE parents’ components school fees of students from elementary to secondary schools in Southern Highlands will be paid for by the provincial government, Governor William Powi says.
He said the provincial government had funded K10 million for the undertaking.
Powi said he was prompted to act after receiving reports of parents struggling to pay school fees.
He said there had been reports of some schools still telling parents to pay up-front fees before their children were enrolled.
He said the Marape Government had released K121 million for the first quarter and that would have already being transferred to school accounts.
Powi said the 38 per cent parental component would be paid for by the provincial government and there was no need to tell parents to pay school fees.
He said his government’s priority was to improve the province’s education sector and all stakeholders including teachers, students, school administrators and education officers.
“All educationists in the province have a duty to ensure the future of our students are safe and secured, and we work towards a common goal to improve the standard starting this academic year,” he said.
Powi said a lot had been done to establish and fund all high and secondary schools including technical and vocational education training (Tvet) centre infrastructures in the province since 2012, subsidising fees for elementary to tertiary students and sponsoring grade 10 and 12 drop-outs to life skill training institutions.
He said officers looking after the education division in the province, school board of management, principals and teachers had a duty to perform and called for accountability and good leadership.