TFF issue

THE new education minister should address Tuition Fee Free (TFF) management issues which was identified in some of the past evaluation report to improve the system.
There has been a great deal of debate about the impact of TFF policy.
The media is awash with stories about TFF implementation and effectiveness, but there has been little independent evaluation done.
The PNG government introduced TFF in 2012 to support the PNG government Universal Basic Education (UBE) plan 2010-19.
The policy aim to allow for all school aged children have access to quality basic education thus to contribute to the development of the country.
The government committed one –third of the education budget appropriation to subsidise elementary, primary, secondary, vocational and permitted FODE schools.
Subsequently, some of the improvements the government desired to achieve included improving school attendance, bolster education resources to schools, increase access for girls’ enrolment in schools and assist in lieu of revenue from parents and quality education.
Over the year TFF reforms changed the way subsidies were paid to schools.
Schools were instructed to open bank accounts and register with department to receive funds.
The new policy instruct head teachers and school principals to consult with parents to determine the best use of the funds.
The management of the funds is also subject to formal monitoring by national, provincial and district level education officials.
Some of the key challenges facing TFF management include the manner in which funds are disbursed to schools.
Schools administrations often faced with difficulties in planning and managing resources when TFF funds are delayed.
TFF reduce cost constraints on parents but increase students numbers to schools and cause overcrowding in classrooms and put strain on school resources.
While increase workload and undue pressure on teachers.
Some remote schools in parts of Morobe, West Sepik and Gulf loose substantial portion of TFF subsidy on travel and logistics costs.
The school standard officers and educational officials in provinces are underfunded and under resourced to carry out consistent assessment on education expenditure.
School head teachers and principals who have acquitted reports sent to relevant authorities have receive poor feedbacks.
Some schools have reported that little consensus is reached with parents and citizen committees over school subsidy spending.
In most instances head teachers and boards of management of schools determine TFF subsidy expenditure.
Also when school census are not administered transparently there is possibility of inflating students’ enrolment figures to obtain extra funding for schools.
There is serious concern now about the monitoring of the TFF subsidy. Checks done on how the subsidies are being spent are rare.
More needs to be done to ensure that education officials are monitoring subsidy payment transparently.

Alexander Tagi
Madang Teachers College