TFF will kill schools, ruin quality education

Letters

THE tuition fee free (TFF) policy will eventually kill schools in the country and our students will not get quality education.
Since TFF was launched, schools across the nation have been suffering.
There have been many reports about schools facing issues with the policy.
The idea was good and was supposed to provide relief for struggling parents.
It appears that those in power are using this policy just to win favours instead of improving the quality of education.
Quality education is as important as accessing it. Are we really prepared for free education?
Yes, it is every child’s right to access education, but we should be prepared to implement TFF properly.
This means releasing subsidies on time and ensuring that schools have enough teachers, classrooms and resources.
We are toying with the future of this nation.
There is no doubt that investing in education brings about good returns.
Among the problems created as a result of implementing TFF were overcrowding in classrooms and shortages of resources as a result increased enrolments.
Schools that operate on an annual budget of K1 million or so were forced to operate with half or less.
Subsidies were not released on time.
Some principals got into trouble for charging parents project fees just because schools needed funds.
Free education caused some parents to lose interest in their children’s education and as a result, teachers lost interest in doing their best to educate students.
Shortages of teachers were not addressed and teachers were over loaded with work. Student discipline was out of control as a result of overcrowding in classrooms and shortages of teachers.
The quality of education was compromised because the Government prioritised quantity instead of focusing on quality as well.
Assessments were not completed on time and schools were not able to purchase resources because of lack of funds.
The budget of schools in urban areas was mostly spent on security, electricity, transport and water.
This is not including the wages and salaries of ancillary staff.
Boarding schools faced difficulties purchasing rations.
Many schools continue to operate with rundown facilities with no maintenance due to no funds.
Many teachers have left their jobs in order to avoid stress. We do not produce enough teachers, but we seem to be increasing enrolment of students every year.
The Government should consider quality education before providing free education.
We need more schools, classrooms and trained teachers in the next five years or we will be doomed.
We need more teacher training institutions.
The Government should allow parents to bear the responsibility of paying for their children’s fees as well.
If the Government is not capable of providing quality education, fund churches to provide quality education.

Concerned Citizen,
NCD