U-turn on project fees

By LORRAINE JIMAL
EDUCATION Minister Jimmy Uguro now says schools may charge project fees as long as they comply with the department’s set standard fees.
He went back on a directive he made last week to schools, that they should not charge parents any fees because the Government was paying for everything.
“Parents must not pay school fees,” he said last week.
“The Government will pay school fees for students from the elementary level to Grade 12.”
He also said the Government was also paying projects fees to schools too, based on the education department’s standard set fees.
But yesterday, Uguro admitted that that the Government’s tuition fee-free subsidy might not be sufficient for all schools.
He said if schools wanted to charge project fees, they must comply with the department’s standard fees set.
The project fees limit set by the National Education Board are: K20 (per student) for elementary, K60 for primary, K220 for lower secondary and upper secondary, K200 for vocational.
This week, the Jubilee Catholic Secondary School in Port Moresby defied Uguro’s directive, saying it was going to charge parents K400 per student as project fees.
School board chairman Joseph Yeou said they needed the money to fund school projects and infrastructure development, which the Government had failed to provide for.
The 2023 national budget allocation for education of K766,400,000 is for operational and functional grants (K485,120,000), commodity component (K121,280,000) and projects fees of K160,000,000.
Uguro told journalists yesterday after Parliament, where questions were raised about school fees, that K151.6million would be distributed to schools through their bank accounts next week to cover the first term beginning on Jan 30.
Education Secretary Dr Uke Kombra warned school administrations or boards not to stop any child from enrolling or attending classes for the non-payment of fees above the minimum standard set by National Education Board.
“While every child has the right to education, parents are also encouraged to support school boards and involve in any self-sustaining activities to provide additional support to schools,” he said.
Kombra said the money paid to schools should be used for the purpose of school operation and nothing else.
“Every penny has to be accounted for.
“And do not misuse funds as it is for the children’s education,” he said.
He said each term, the schools would receive K151.6 million.
He urged the provincial education advisers and provincial education boards to ensure that the government funds were implemented.