Province to pay 20pc of parents’ share of school fees

THE Gulf government will help parents pay school fees this year.
In the Government’s new school fee subsidy scheme for 2020, parents of students in elementary to secondary schools are expected to pay 37 per cent of the school fee while the state pays the rest (63 per cent).
This is a complete change from the Tuition Fee Free policy which saw the state pay for 100 per cent of the cost.
Gulf Governor Chris Haiveta said his government would pay more than half of the parents’ component or 20 per cent.
He said parents would only be required to pay the remainder or 17 per cent.
Haiveta said he understood that parents had been reliant on the free education policy over the last four years and the sudden change would place an unforeseen burden on parents in 2020.
Haiveta said the provincial government in its budget this year had set aside K2.2mil for school fees.
He made this announcement in Kerema and Kaintiba stations respectively on Monday last week while launching the provincial government’s subsidised air services scheme to serve the mountain region of the province and remote Westport areas.
He also told the people of Kaintiba local level government (LLG) that the Bema High School would be upgraded to a secondary school while Kaintiba, Hawabango and Kanabea primary schools would be upgraded to high schools.
The Governor announced that work on delivering projects for this year had started with Kaintiba and would continue in other LLGs.
Haiveta was accompanied on the trip by deputy governor Morris Taudevin.