By Mustapha Kamara Junior
Government’s decision to regulate school frees being charged by private schools authorities in Sierra Leone has been greeted with a sigh of relief by aggrieved parents who feel the fees are exorbitant.
The government, through the ministry of education, had vowed to shut down any school whose fees were not commensurate to the educational facilities they provide.
Last week a meeting between the Education Board, the regulatory arm of the ministry of education and representatives of independent(privately run) schools concluded with the controversial decision that saw some school authorities ordered to refund parents.
The disagreement over how schools charged fees began last year after the government altered the academic calendar as one of the consequences of the 2014-2015 Ebola epidemic. Instead of three terms,all schools in the country were required to operate two terms. But this also meant reduction in revenue, which for all private schools, came from tuition fees. And to make up for this loss of revenue, private schools opted to increase fees per term.
Brima Turay, public relations officer at the ministry of education,said they determine all fees charged as per the Education Act of 2004, adding that they were planning to shutdown any school that would fail to adhere to the regulatory measures.
“It is the ministry, as a government organ, that regulates the activities of every educational institution in the country and the ministry, according to the Education Act has the authority to regulate school fees”, he said.
Some parents had already paid before the ministry came up with the announcement.Turay said such school would either have to refund that money to the parents or carry the excess forward to the next term. He said the ministry would make sure parents’ interests were protected.
Mrs Kamara, who could not give her full name, told Politico that her child at the Mereweather Preparatory Schools, a private school situated on Jomo Kenyatta Road in the western part of Freetown.
She said she had felt frustrated on learning that she was to pay a school fee for her child that was close to the amount she was to pay for herself at the University of Sierra Leone.
Kamara was supposed to pay over Le 2M just for two terms for the child, a class six pupil who is among those who will be taking the National Primary Schools Examinations (NPSE) this year. This means she will have only about five months.
“I was shocked to see the new fees,” she said.Binta Sesay has two kids attending Modern Elementary School inFreetown. Even though she was concerned about the hike in fees, she said she was more concerned about the quality of education her children were having at the school.
Modern High School, which is also owned by the proprietor of Modern elementary school, was asked to pay back 10 percent of fees for its elementary school and 25 percent for secondary school.
Dr Brian Conton, President of the Association of Independent Schools, at the meeting with the National Education Board said the reason for the fees charged by private schools were to pay their teachers salary and to address some other charges among other things.
“Private schools are private enterprise. And schools have to cover their cost,“ he said. This year’s academic calendar according to the Ministry of Education would last for two term, starting January to August. The plan is to establish the normal three-term academic year in September 2016.
(C) Politico 20/01/16
