School charging fees for weekend classes

I AM raising this so the authorities can do something.
Waigani Primary School recently asked their grade 8 students to pay K5 appreciation fee to their teachers so that the teachers could teach them for extra hours on Saturdays from 8.30am to 12pm.
In a class, there are about 50 grade 8 students, so a teacher is expected to get K200 for the four hours from all the students in a class.
The school was rated as one of the schools in the National Capital District with a high rate of teacher absenteeism.
In a recent visit by the Teaching Service Commission and the Education Department, 10 teachers were absent from class.
Students who did not pay the K5 were turned away from Saturday’s remedial lessons.
The attendance for remedial lessons is good for all students.
However, it should come from the hearts of teachers.
There are committed schools in many provinces that do not charge appreciation fees to students for teaching students on weekends.
It depends on how a teacher can demonstrate that he/she has a genuine heart for students.
I think collecting fees from students for teaching them on weekends is not right.
The decision to collect the appreciation fees from students is illegal because it is not authorised by the National Capital District Commission’s education division and the Teaching Service Commission.
Even if this arrangement was accepted by parents, it is still not right as no clearance was obtained from the higher authorities.
I call on the Education Department, the Teaching Service Commission and the National Capital District Commission’s education division to investigate this and confirm whether the higher authorities were aware of this. Penalties should be given if this is not authorised.

Moses Sanangke,
Parent