By Trudy Simpson,
Staff Reporter
THE NON-PAYMENT of school fees is hurting high schools islandwide.
An informal survey carried out by The Gleaner revealed that schools were owed hundreds of thousands of dollars by parents who have not paid any portion of the fees owed.
The fees, which range from $5,500 to $7,500, cover book rental, student insurance and the general operations of the institutions.
"It's a serious problem be-cause we need the money to carry on the school's business," said Dorothy Samuda, principal of St. Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS).
While not being able to give specific amounts owed, the school's bursar, Lucien Smith, said an estimated 15 per cent of the school's population of over 1500 had not paid anything.
Mrs. Samuda explained that over 100 students in grade 11 alone, have not registered so no fees were paid although they were attending school.
Checks with Jose Marti Technical High School in St. Catherine, Campion College, St. Andrew Technical and Imma-culate Conception High Schools in Kingston and St. Andrew, also showed that they were experiencing similar problems, although in the case of Campion College, only a small percentage was owed. "Every year, some $800,000-$900,000 do not come in," principal of Immaculate Conception, Sister Mary Cath-erine Aarons pointed out. Since September, she continued, the school was owed about $7m in outstanding fees.
Denham Town High School is owed about $7 million in accumulated outstanding fees over the last four years.
Curline Christie, principal of St. Andrew Technical, bemoaned the situation where students at the school owed as much as $12,000 over a three-year period, although some received financial help under the Ministry of Educ-ation's cost-sharing programme.
"It's really a difficult situation," Mrs. Christie lamented, adding that this non-payment limited the school's ability to help poorer students who need help to pay external examination fees.
The school was finding it harder to finance sports competitions handled solely by schools. The funds were used for track and field and football gear and for maintaining students during competitions. Last year, just about $60,000 was spent on gear and other activities involving the Manning's Cup football matches, she said.
Yvonne Lee, bursar at Jose Marti High, agreed. She told The Gleaner in February, that even though a budget is set, owing to the inflow of cash, cutbacks have to be made.
"Teachers and students need class material and you have limited funds, so you have to prioritise...to look at basic needs and utility bills, which are very high (at the vocational school)," she said.
The principals and administrators blamed parents and caregivers, some of whom had got accustomed to "getting away" with not paying school fees.
Other caregivers, they continued, were out of jobs, too embarrassed to ask the Ministry of Education for help, had placed more emphasis on "fancy" hairstyles and brand name shoes, or had migrated, leaving students to raise their siblings or be raised by a sibling.
The school authorities are urging parents who are having problems to come to the schools and discuss them, as well as to work out a payment plan.
