Parents call on govt for help

PARENTS are calling on the government to help reduce the new school fees being charged by the University of Papua New Guinea and other institutions.
John Alopa, from Southern highlands, has called on the university council to make the fees affordable for parents.
Alopa, a former security guard and now a vegetable farmer, said the compulsory fee of K7500 being charged by UPNG is unaffordable.
He has a son due to do his second year at UPNG this year.
“The fee has increased 100 per cent compared to what we paid last year,” Alopa said.
He said he earns only K4000 a year and still has to pay for seedlings, chemicals, transport, family needs and community obligations from that money.
“Am I going to think about my son’s school fee or my daughter who will be doing grade 11 at Ialibu secondary?” he said.
He paid K3000 last year, he said.
He is calling on the government to persuade UPNG to reduce the fees.
A police officer based in Hagen – who has two sons, one of whom is going to Divine Word and the other to UPNG – said that he, too, did not earn enough to afford the new fees.
He has three other children at high school.
He said the government should look into the issue and help parents.