Extortion in the guise of fundraising

THE EDITOR, Sir:

While the Ministry of Education issued funding guidelines for public schools which should effectively remove auxiliary fees, as they had provided an increase in subventions to schools under the Education Act and Regulations, I would wish to bring to their attention the fact that parents are indeed paying way more during an academic year.

The ministry had asked that school board chairmen guide administrators in the implementation of this policy with regional education officers policing the implementation of the guidelines; however, it is obvious that these persons have fallen asleep on the job, or are they a party to the rampant 'extortion' of parents?

The previous administration's responsible minister once labelling some schools as extortionist is quite befitting of how many are operating at the primary level. Many schools, on a weekly basis, have fundraising ventures where parents are requested to shell out scarce cash to fund these activities. Some administrators even sell the arrangement to parents under the guise that it is for the betterment of the children.

Who is tracking the intake of all funds at these schools? Where does all these funds go? How often are these school finances audited? Is the ministry really on top of these things?

R. Pinado