EDUCATION and youth minister, Maxine Henry-Wilson, on Tuesday sought to dismiss the opposition Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) plan to abolish school fees at the secondary level, stating that Jamaicans were more concerned about the quality of education than removal of the cost-sharing programme.

Even while appealing to parents to pay their children’s school fees on time, the minister admitted that some parents may withhold payment until after the elections on August 27, as the JLP says it will remove the fees for the new school year, if it forms the next government.

“I have no doubt that some may (withhold the fees), but I have no doubt that some will pay,” Henry-Wilson said at a press conference at the ministry.

The ministry insisted that despite the JLP’s promise, quality, not fees, was the real issue in education.

“I think what parents are concerned about is the quality of the education that they are receiving…the best antidote for poverty is a good education for your child. I think that’s what we should be preaching rather than what is the next free thing we are going to give away,” she said.

According to Henry-Wilson, there are parents “who feel they should make a contribution to education”.

“And feel very strongly about this view that you can have free education; they know that is just not possible,” the minister added.

While stressing the importance of the fees, the minister sought to reassure parents that no child, who did not pay, should be turned away from school.

“The policy enunciated over the past three or four years is that no child should be deprived of education because of the inability to pay, but we want to point out that (the fee) is a significant part of the school’s budget. When we have non-payment of fees by parents, the schools run into problems of just keeping the schools open. We continue to say that if you can afford to pay, we ask you to pay because the schools need the additional resources,” she said.

Henry-Wilson also reminded journalists that a significant number of students already do not pay fees, or only part of the fee. These include students on the Programme for Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH), and wards of the state who pay no fees, and children of teachers and administrative and ancilliary staff of schools who pay a quarter of the fee.

Improvements to the system to take effect this year include a revised grade one readiness inventory, more eye and hearing testing for children, the employment of a cadre of literacy specialists, the removal of more than 100 schools from the shift system, and a fund for the upgrading of teachers.

The minister said there were spaces for all secondary level students this year. Last year there was a chronic shortage in St Catherine and Clarendon, resulting in some students missing several weeks of school.