SCHOOLS SUFFER - Cut in vital services without auxiliary fees
Published:Sunday | July 25, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Tyrone Reid, Sunday Gleaner Reporter
Under pressure from parents bawling about the high cost of auxiliary fees, and with the education ministry adamant that no child should be turned away for failing to pay these charges, several schools are strugg-ling to finance the most basic services.
Science labs, sporting com-petitions and cultural activities could be slashed in some schools if they fail to collect the majority of money charged as auxiliary fees.
Part-time staff - hired to reduce the teacher-to-student-ratio in a bid to improve learning - would be sent home. So, too, would be students enrolled in some sixth-form programmes. Some security guards would also lose their jobs if auxillary fees are not collected.
"Security would be at risk, as funds would not be available to provide for (the) 24-hour security that now exists," argued Sharon Reid, principal of St Andrew High School For Girls and president of the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools (JAPSS).
Security may go
Esther Tyson, principal of Ardenne High School and vice-president of the JAPSS, echoed the warning that security provided for the students while they are at school, and other activities designed to improve the overall quality of education would be among the casualties.
"Ardenne is known for offering a holistic education to our students. The education offered would become bare bones without the enrichment elements which now broaden the programmes that we offer," Tyson argued.
The principals accept that times are tough and that the auxiliary fees are a strain on many parents already pummelled by high taxes and the accompanying harsh economic realities that obtain in Jamaica.
But they argue that with the Government not providing all the money needed to properly operate schools, the fees are a necessary evil needed for the good of the country's students.
In underscoring the point, the administration of St Andrew High School for Girls claims that 25 part-time staff members would be sent home in the upcoming academic year if the auxiliary fees were not collected.
That is because the subvention from the Government would not stretch to cover the salaries of these workers.
And, even if it could, the Government's money comes with spending conditionalities, which does not include the part-time teachers getting a dime.
Since coming to power in 2007, the Bruce Golding administration has removed tuition fees at secondary schools while increasing the subvention to the schools.
Difference between tuition fees and subvention
Colin Blair, director of communications in the education ministry, emphasised that there was a difference between tuition fees and a subvention.
"Subvention takes care of salaries as well as fixed and recurrent costs, and this is sent to schools based on their budget submitted, while the ministry pays a tuition fee per child to schools," he said.
Blair also told our news team that "the amount that is being paid per student for the new school year (2010-2011) is $11,000 for the first tranche".
He explained that this amount would be revised once the actual numbers were clarified in the first term. "If possible, the second tranche may be revised upwards," Blair said.
For Reid, this is a sizeable investment in education, but it is just not enough for schools to survive without the auxiliary fees.
"It is important to note that the Ministry of Education pays the salaries of all teachers and support staff on the government establish-ment," Reid said.
"For the 2009-2010 academic year, the sum paid so far is $115,164,633.26. This is separate from the sum provided for operational expenses," said Reid.
Not enough
However, the JAPSS president reasoned that the subvention from Government towards operational expenses was not enough to fund programmes, approved by the school board, designed to improve the quality of education provided for the students.
She pointed out that schools are given a set staff quota based on the student-to-teacher ratio prescribed by the Ministry of Education.
"The implementation of many programmes is dependent on the employment of non-government part-time staff (members) who are paid with auxiliary fees," Reid stated.
"The cutting of these pro-grammes would severely affect the quality of the education experience provided at St Andrew High.
"In fact, the entire landscape of our offerings, both academic and non-academic, would be completely changed, and we would no longer be in a position to provide the holistic education for which it is well known," she added.
Auxiliary fees important
Against this background, the principals argue that the Government's position that the paying of auxiliary fees is not mandatory is unrealistic.
"It is not realistic, because they are aware that what they are giving is not adequate," said Nadine Molloy, principal of Buff Bay High School and president-elect of the Jamaica Teachers' Association.
"It would be difficult for the school to survive without the payment of auxiliary fees," she added.
Molloy pointed out that a decision to operate within the school's budgeted allocation last year led to the slashing of two technical vocational subjects from the curriculum.
They were just too expensive for the school to continue on its limited budget.
Albert Corcho, principal of Tarrant High School and president of the Association of Principals and Vice-Principals, argues that the payment of auxiliary fees should be compulsory.
"It should be made mandatory, since the Government is paying (the tuition to) the school," he argued.
Corcho added: "I feel that the parents should be made to contribute to the overall develop-ment of the school."
Welfare cut
The Tarrant High principal said the welfare programme at his school would be cut if auxiliary fees were not collected.
School administrators have repeatedly argued that the financial assistance provided to needy students under the PATH programme is not enough.
This has led some schools to implement a welfare programme to assist needy students, but that could also disappear because of the cash crunch.
"Students get a hot meal out of the auxiliary fees," said Corcho.
The administrators also lamented that sporting programmes would take a beating if the auxiliary fees were abandoned or not paid by parents.
A cutback in sports would be especially dire for the students of Tarrant High, many of whom are stronger on the fields and hard courts than they are in the classrooms, Corcho said.
He pointed out that the exposure provided by the various sporting competitions was very important for the total development of his students.
"That is what the (auxiliary) fees allow us to do: put out well-rounded students," Corcho emphasised.