EDUCATION Minister Andrew Holness says that his ministry will move to regulate secondary schools that breach new guidelines he laid down in Parliament yesterday on charging controversial auxiliary fees.

"This Ministry of Education does not want to take away the discretion and the energy of principals to raise funds from their parent base. In fact, we want to encourage that. But, it must be done in moderation," the minister told the House of Representatives during a statement on the issue.

"We don't want to regulate this part of the school system, but if the principals don't regulate themselves, then they leave the minister of education and the government no choice but to intervene with regulations," he added.

Holness, who was addressing the concerns raised by parents about skyrocketing auxiliary fees being charged by schools to finance various projects, announced five guidelines developed by the ministry for setting the fees.
They are:

. Charges for items such as insurance, ties and IDs, among others, are to be treated as payment for goods and services to be consumed by individual students and not as auxiliary fees, and items that fall under user fees should not attract a mark-up;

. Although parents are encouraged to contribute within their ability, it is not a requirement for admission to school, and no child is to be denied access to an education because of parental failure or unwillingness to contribute;

. For 2008/2009, it must be taken into account that the Ministry (of Education) has increased the tuition fees paid by the Government from 20 per cent to 27 per cent, resulting in a per pupil fee of $10,000, including $1,000 for the Textbook Programme, in determining their auxiliary fees;

. Principals are directed to ensure that where an increase is necessary, including additional types of fees, the total should not exceed the amount for the 2007/2008 academic year by more than 19.9 per cent, which is the rate of inflation reported by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ); and

. Parent Teachers Associations (PTAs) should be involved in determining the level of these contributions, which must be within the ability of the majority of parents to afford. All auxiliary fees must be attached to, or related to a finite development project approved by the PTA.

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