Sunday, January 18, 2009

Education Minister stresses importance of paying school fees

Minister for Education James Marape (pictured) has called on parents to start preparing for their children’s school fees before classes resume on February 2 this year.

The Minister said the National Education Board (NEB) had approved the maximum fee per child in 2009 as K100 for elementary prep to grade 2, K250 for grades 3 to 6 and K250 for grades 7 to 8 in primary schools.

For grades 7 to 10 day students in secondary and vocational schools, the fee is K825 and K1, 200 for boarders.

For grades 11 and 12 in secondary schools and national high schools, the fee for day students is K900 and K1, 400 for boarders.

For students at the Flexible and Open Distance Education (FODE) the approved maximum fee is K90 per subject.

The fees for pre-service teacher training at primary teachers colleges and the Papua New Guinea Education Institute will be K1, 100 for students who are fully sponsored under the Higher Education Contribution Assistance Scheme (HECAS) and K1, 125 for self-sponsored day students and K2, 225 for self-sponsored or corporate-sponsored boarding students.

For technical and business colleges, the fees have increased by 5% for all the courses offered as of January 2009.

The tuition fee for a full year (44 week) diploma or technical training certificate (TTC) course is K4, 830.

This includes the messing fee of K1, 800 for boarding students.

There is an increase by 10% in the fees for all sectors except secondary and vocational schools.

 Following is a table showing the break-up of fees as per the NEB fee limits in 2008 in order to guide parents and guardians.

 

Break-up as per 2008 NEB Fee Limits

School Level

NEB Fee Limits

Government Contribution

Parental Contribution

Elementary EP – E2

90

70

20

Primary Gr 3 – 5

230

110

120

Primary Gr 6 – 8

230

110

120

Sec/Voc Gr 9 – 10 (Day)

750

225

525

Sec/Voc Gr 9 – 10 (Boarder)

1100

330

770

Sec/Voc Gr 11 – 12 (Day)

800

240

560

Sec/Voc Gr 11 – 12 (Boarder)

1300

390

910

FODE

80

24

56

Permitted & Special Education

 

14

 

 

“I call on all parents and guardians to start organising school fees, uniforms and stationery, which children need to start school with,” Mr Marape said.

“Children are excited about going back to school after a long holiday therefore we must start them off on a good and happy note and make sure to maintain that momentum throughout the year.

“This will help them concentrate and do well in school.”

Minister Marape said that he would announce the break-up of the 2009 fees as soon as he confirmed the funding with the Department of Treasury.

He added that the Department of Education would also need to confirm the enrolment data in order to work out the component of fees to be paid by the Government and parents in line with the NEB limits.

The Minister has urged all school authorities not to turn students away from school at the start of the year for non-payment of school fees.

“While parents are responsible for paying fees, I also appeal to all school authorities to allow students to enroll and attend classes even if they have not paid any fees while their parents and guardians sort out their school fees,” Mr Marape said.

“Children should not be deprived of their right to education.”

“The Ministry of Education recognises that many parents are finding it difficult to pay school fees.

“Those students whose parents are able to pay a portion of the fee must also be allowed to enroll for classes while parents sort out the remaining fees to be paid.”

He added that schools should not be demanding full payment during enrolment but should accept payment of fees in installments.

The Minister said that parents must also realise that schools needed money to operate and at this time of the year, schools would need money to purchase materials and resources for teachers and students to use to start the school year on a good note.

The Minister added that the fees parents paid contributed a lot to the operations of the school therefore parents must ensure that they played their part by paying fees for their children.

 

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