While some parents are busy writing their list of textbooks, shoes, uniform and other necessities to purchase for the new school year a parent in Westmoreland is crying foul as she had to pay $11,500 to get her daughter transferred. Her daughter, 12 year old, Andrene Burke* initially passed for a school in St. Elizabeth but will be attending a prominent high school in Westmoreland come September because of the proximity of the school to her home.
Sonia*, Burke’s mother said she wrote a letter to the school requesting a transfer and presented her daughter’s GSAT result but when she got the approval, the school requested that she pay $11,500 in tuition, $7,000 in contribution for school support, $8,800 for the registration package, $4,000 to attend a MANDATORY SUMMER SCHOOL as stipulated in the Welcome Letter and $1,200 for medical. Even though the transfer was approved, Burke did not receive the acceptance letter until she paid the $11,500.
That means that a student who was initially granted a place at the school will be paying $21,000 and a transfer student, like Burke will have to pay $32,500.On the flip side, Burke’s cousin who earned a placed at the same institution was only asked to pay $7000 in contribution for school support, $8,800 for the registration package, $4000 for summer school and $1,200 for medical.
When The Desk At 13 West contacted the school to make an enquiry, we were informed that the procedure to request a transfer to the school involved visiting the school to fill out an application form that cost $2,000 and submitting a copy of the child’s GSAT result. When questioned about the $11,500 being charged to students requesting transfer, the school admitted that the $11, 500 is being charged to these students because they weren’t granted a place initially at the institution. The $11,500 represents the “subvention” that the government would pay for a child if he/she was originally placed at the school.
However, when we spoke to an Education Officer at the Ministry of Education said that she can’t imagine a school would be asking a parent to pay “tuition” to be admitted. She explained that the Ministry pays tuition to the school based on enrollment, so if the child is enrolled in September then the payment for that child would take effect.
She said that the Ministry of Education has increased its subvention to schools however, they still encourage parents to make contributions to the school. The amount of contribution isn’t determined by the Ministry. There are no mandatory fees in schools, she said, and if a child cannot afford to pay it then they should not be turned back.
“We pay for students based on enrollment and we take up the enrollment in a process called census in October… so if the child is accepted at the school now, we’d have that child accounted for in October,” the Education Officer said.
She said she could not comment extensively on the current situation because she would need to speak with the school directly.
The Desk at 13 West contacted the principal at a prominent high school in St. Elizabeth and we were told that the only requirement asked of GSAT students who want to be transferred are a letter stating their reasons and a certified copy of their GSAT results. The Desk At 13 West also made contact to Maud McLeod High School, Rusea’s High School and Godfrey Stewart High School and a representative from these schools confirmed that they have the same policy at their institution.
In 2007, the Bruce Golding administration removed tuition fees at secondary schools, while increasing the subvention to the schools and that policy was maintained by the People's National Party administration. Currently, tuition fees are only charged at the tertiary level in Jamaica. But if this is the case, why is the school charging students who are requesting to be transferred “an arm and a leg” before they can be admitted to the school?
About The Desk at 13 West
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