Schools warned against increasing auxiliary fees
THE Ministry of Education has warned school administrators against increasing auxiliary fees for the new academic year, which begins next week.
The ministry, in a release, said school administrators must abide by instructions issued in June that no changes should be made to schools’ internal tuition grant and auxiliary fee structure for the 2013-2014 academic year. Schools, it said, will continue to receive an allocation of $11,500.00 per student for tuition grant.
The ministry, which said only two high schools had requested and were granted permission to increase their auxiliary fee above the 2012/2013 level, said all schools were advised that:
* Charges for goods such as physical education gear, epaulets, badges, lab coats etc and services should not be included on the vouchers for auxiliary fees;
* Parents should be allowed the option of obtaining these goods from other sources that are competitive;
* Auxiliary fees should not be optional but should form part of that portion of the school fee to be borne by parents. Wards of the state and students on PATH are exempted; and
* School administrators should devise reasonable payment plans to facilitate and accommodate parents in meeting their auxiliary fee payment obligations.
The ministry said, too, that students on the PATH programme, wards of the state — whether in foster care or living in a child care institution or attending a public secondary school — should be granted waivers on auxiliary fees.
