GENERATION 2000 (G2K), the young professional arm of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), says the government’s failure to abolish the cost-sharing programme has made schooling unaffordable for many students attending secondary schools.

Dr Christopher Tufton, president of the G2K, told a press briefing at the JLP headquarters in Kingston yesterday that an informal survey carried out by the group showed that parents from lower socioeconomic backgrounds were “facing challenges” in sending their children back to school.

“Not only are they (parents) challenged in affording the basic essentials such as books and bags. They are also severely challenged because of the high cost captioned under the heading, cost-sharing (school fees) that are required of them by institutions in order for them to engage in the process,” Tufton told reporters.

Parents, he said, have to pay up to 20 per cent of the cost to allow their children to access secondary education.

“I believe it is disingenuous for the call to be made by the government that parents should take responsibility for the education of their children, because already parents bear full responsibility,” said Tufton. “I believe that call and cost-sharing is tantamount to double taxation,” he added.

According to Tufton, it would cost the government an additional $800 million to $1 billion to abolish the cost-sharing programme, which he said would be attainable through an increase in the budgetary allocation to the education sector.

The current budget is $35.1 billion or 11.2 per cent of the national expenditure budget for the financial year 2006/2007.

The G2K president, meanwhile, reiterated the JLP’s promise that should they win the upcoming elections, cost-sharing would be abolished.

“The Jamaica Labour Party believes that education is too important to nation building and the development of our country to risk having some of our young people not have access because they cannot afford it,” he said.