Parent: High fees charged

 By MIRIAM MALAWA

PARENTS of students attending a vocational school in the National Capital District have complained of the school’s high projects fee.

A parent said they were only supposed to pay 25% of the total as project fees but the school has charged K500, with K100 for a single uniform, which totals up to K600 per child.

The parent said in other schools they spent below K200 for the project fees and uniforms and urged the Department of Education to check schools that charged higher fees.

A senior officer at the vocational school who wished to be anonymous said that the fee charged by the school was according to the school’s need for resources and facilities.

He said vocational schools were training schools for students to be properly qualified for their specific fields and they needed adequate resources.

He said resources for students were not texts but machinery and the school was still using old and rundown equipment for students to use.

“That is why the fees charged by the school are fair enough. If you go to other private schools you would be charged more than K1,000,” the officer at the school said.

He said the government funding was K990 for per students and parents were to pay K100 per child but that was not enough to cater for the 600-plus students, including equipment for courses such as mechanic, fabrication and welding and automotive.

He said organisations used more advanced equipment in their workplace which the school lacked and it had to cater for that to provide quality learning for the students.

“Our students go out to the working field and are lost because the equipment we use here is old and outdated.”

Another parent who has a son attending a vocational school added that parents had to pay up their component as it was for their children’s good.

“Quality education is achieved through parent’s commitment towards the school,” the parent said.