Schools challenge Gov’t to increase funding

Jennifer Williams, president of the Jamaica Association of Principals and Vice-Principals, is urging the Government to increase funding for schools to alleviate the burden of auxiliary fees on parents.

Her call comes after Prime Minister Andrew Holness expressed concern about the resurgence of “prohibitive auxiliary fees”, which he noted can prevent children from accessing education.

“I understand that the cost that the schools face to provide quality education can be expensive. I understand that. But I want to remind school administrators that nonpayment of fees should never prevent a child from accessing education,” said Holness, a former education minister.

He was speaking on Sunday at the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) 81st annual conference, where he also highlighted that it was under a JLP administration in 2007 that tuition fees for secondary education were abolished.

Since then, parents have consistently raised concerns about the steep increase in auxiliary fees.

Williams clarified in an interview with The Gleaner on Monday that parents are not required to pay these fees but are encouraged to make voluntary “contributions”. She explained that schools submit their operational budgets, including estimates of parents’ contributions, to the Ministry of Education each year.

“If it is that they are saying that parents don’t need to pay – because that is what is out there, basically, that they don’t need to pay – it would mean that you, now, as the Government need to provide the school with the resources so that they can provide the students with a full education,” stated Williams, who is the principal of The Queen’s School in St Andrew.

She pointed out that school expenses vary widely depending on institutional needs and that parents generally pay what they can afford.

“A school with a pool has a maintenance [cost], and, of course, that school gives to their students a swimming class. It comes in the P.E. (physical education) session. So you have to maintain the pool, and maintaining a pool is not cheap. Another school does not have that cost because they don’t have a pool,” she explained.

Williams argued that current government funding is insufficient to meet the diverse needs of schools.

“The Government would have to give more to all the schools. Schools, basically, lack the required resources to give students that adequate education,” she told The Gleaner.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Holness reiterated his administration’s commitment to ensuring that no child is denied access to education due to financial challenges. He also raised alarm over rising truancy rates since the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasising the importance of keeping all children in school regardless of their financial circumstances.

“It is in all our interests to have all our children in school, regardless of their ability to pay. If you keep [out] poor children by enforcing prohibitive fees, then we are also increasing the likelihood of the children not having the life chance of going to school,” he said.

He said this perpetuates generational poverty and that he has instructed education minister Senator Dana Morris Dixon to implement measures to address these issues.

“We are spending significant resources to get our children in school, and we are committed to spend even more to get the last child who is not in school, in school,” Holness said.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com