‘WE WILL NOT HELP SCHOOLS BREAK LAW'

MANZINI – As the debate on the next move with the issue of school top-up fees, the Ministry of Education and Training says it will not assist schools break the law.

Ministry of Education Principal Secretary (PS) Pat Muir says as further consultations are yet to be vigorously intensified over the issue of Free Primary Education (FPE) and top-up fees, the law need not be broken.
Last week Friday the Minister of Education, Phineas Magagula, led a delegation of officials from his ministry to a meeting with school heads and committee chairpersons on issues affecting the country’s education system.

Muir was the coordinator of the meeting which touched on the issue of top-up fees.
His Majesty King Mswati III, delivering his Speech from the Throne when opening the First Session of the 10th Parliament, directed a solution be found to bring to an end the issue to top-up fees.

“The Free Primary Education programme is governed by an Act of Parliament. I do not think what school principals and school committee chairpersons are saying is that the ministry should help them in breaking the law,” said Muir. “But that is exactly what is happening now.”
He said the issue of top-up fees was going to be addressed accordingly but no one should expect the ministry’s help in breaking the law.

School heads had also sought clarity on what needed to be done while consultations were still ongoing because school coffers were dry, support staff in schools were still owed months of their salaries, government had not deposited monies into school accounts while parents were demanding a refund for the paid top-up fees.
This is despite that the top-up fee was an amount reached in a mutual agreement during parents meetings to supplement that particular school’s budgets.

“This is our plea to you as the issue is being discussed and looked into,” said Muir.
“For instance, there is no justification for any primary school, here in Manzini for example, to charge Grade I pupils E3 000 as a top-up fee. There is just no justification and neither has a school advanced reasons why they would want to charge a primary pupil in Grade I E3 000. 

“The FPE Act has regulations which have not reached the schools at the moment but we are working on it with the hope that soon the regulations will have reached the schools. The regulations are very clear on what needs to happen.
“We would like to apologise that responses from the ministry have taken long to come because it is embodied in the regulations which you still do not have at the moment.

“For instance, if you write to the ministry and request a top-up for E3 000 with no justification or whatsoever, it is clear in terms of the regulations what needs to be done when requesting a top-up fee charge,” said Muir.

The Ps further stated that the minister would soon start his regional tours wherein he would be engaging parents and school committees on policy issues.
The massage was conveyed to school heads and school committee chairpersons last week.
“In terms of policy issues, the minister will be visiting the country’s regions and if there are any issues you may want to raise with the ministry please feel free to do so when the minister is out in the regions.

“The minister will be consulting will be consulting with parents and school committees and regional level,” he explained.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: