newsday.co.tt/news/0,180509.html Do not charge registration fees. This instruction was given directly by Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh when he met yesterday with secondary school principals held at Rudranath Capildeo Learning Resource Centre (RCLRC), Couva. During the meeting Gopeesingh said he received a complaint from a parent about a school in north Trinidad, charging $1000 for registration. “The country has been plagued by parents who are socio-economically deprived having to pay fees at the time of registration of their children into Form One into these schools, and all sorts of things put together for the registration. This is untenable,” Gopeesingh said in an interview with reporters. The Ministry will be “strong” in the implementation of the no-fee policy. Principals of government schools received budgets ranging from $750,000 to $1.5 million annually. Gopeesingh said, “therefore, the poor parents should not have to pay any money whatsoever for their child to be admitted into their schools. We want to make that publicly known to all parents. Anybody who is experiencing difficulty must report that to the Ministry of Education, so that action can be taken.” Chief Education Officer, Harilal Seecharan, has issued memos to principals on three occasions to ensure the “abuse” does not take place. Gopeeesingh said in a country proud to have free education, no system must be implemented which would impact on students of lower socio-economic backgrounds getting education because of “exorbitant fees implemented in an arbitrary manner.” He said the ministry prided itself on equity and accessibility of the education system. Asked what action could be taken against principals, he said under the Education Act, all circulars/memoranda issued by the Ministry/Chief Education become legal and any action contrary, has to be reported to the Teaching Service Commission. He said it was up to the TSC to deal with disciplining teachers. Asked if budgets to principals would be increased since they were charging registration fees, Gopeesingh said a lot of the funding was not utilised, but returned to the Consolidated Fund.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Jul 2013 10:57:00 +0000
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