New books go well with a new bag. -Carlington WilmotAyanna Kirton, Staff Reporter
MEETING THE demands of sending a child to school has become a big challenge for most parents. The rising costs of school fees, textbooks and other school materials have made this academic year one of the most difficult, financially.
"This year is, by far, the worst for me," said one young, unemployed, single mother of an eight-year-old boy. "In addition to trying to find a job which seems almost impossible I have the stress of trying to pay for school fees, transportation to and from school and find lunch money."
Other parents, faced with drastic increases in school fees especially at the preparatory level, echo her sentiments.
Dillon Alleyne, a lecturer and father of three young children, is facing a 25 per cent increase in the cost of school fees, which have moved to $32,000 per child per term. And "with all the increases in fees there is no significant improvement in the quality of teaching," he said. "Class sizes have also increased because there is a shortage of quality prep schools."
According to Alleyne, several of the traditional preparatory schools are also overcrowded. In addition to external economic factors, he said, several of the preparatory schools that belong to churches, were already carrying huge deficits. As a result, many of them have been forced to increase their fees to cover those costs, he said.
Alleyne also said the increase in school fees has been met with little opposition from parent-teacher associations because many parents fear that voicing their complaints would lead to their children being neglected by teachers.
Some parents are also struggling to send their children to sixth form, a cost that often doubles the amount they pay at the lower grades.
"I haven't received my daughter's booklist yet but the school fees took me by surprise," said one mother. Her daughter attends a popular high school in St. Andrew, where, in addition to tuition of $15,000 per term excluding textbooks, a $3,500 contribution to the parent-teacher association is mandatory.
Marsha, a single mother of two boys, had no other choice but to stop sending her son to a preparatory school because his school fees had escalated from $10,000 to $17,000 per term. With transportation costs of about $10,000 per term, $300 for extra lessons every Saturday, $8,000 for books and $150 for lunch daily, she found that the new school fees were not within her reach.
Her son now attends a primary school but she said his academic performance has suffered as a result.
BETTER IN PREP SCHOOL
"He would do much better in prep school, even though he has managed to get used to his new school," she said. "I cannot blame the teachers because I know many of them do their best but sometimes he needs help and with a class of almost 40 children it is difficult for a teacher to devote attention to every child."
She insists that her son would have been better educated at a prep school, noting that: "The facilities in the prep schools are much better. The classes are smaller and each student has their own desk and chair."
Stanley Skeane, principal of May Day High School located in Manchester and president of the Association of Principals and Vice-principals, admitted that furniture was "woefully short" in many of the island's schools.
Some schools, such as May Day High, had not received any funds from the Government to facilitate repair1s, and at any rate "we couldn't wait on that because it is only a drop in the bucket," he said. Mr. Skeane said that this year, with the school's shuttle bus no longer in service, parents would also have to shell out additional cash for taxi fares since half of the school's population depend on public
transportation.
He was also concerned about the shortage of classroom space for students, a problem he felt would only be exacerbated if the proposed expansion in the shift system was carried out.
"Increasing the number of schools on the shift system will put a strain on resources if certain needs are not addressed," said the principal.
"Because of the shortage of holding areas and classroom space, many students would not be able to take part in co-curricular activities because this space would be used for teaching regular classes," he explained, adding that other facilities would have to be put in place for the system to function optimally.
But it is the cost of text books Skeane said that has triggered the most complaints among parents, who have to pay up to 65 per cent more for books this year.
"We have had to sponsor students because many of them cannot afford the high costs and we have asked our students to buy only those books that are really necessary if they are not a part of the book rental scheme," he said. "Wherever we can absolve some of the costs to the parents we do, but not all government schools can."
Under the Ministry of Education's national textbook rental scheme, students in high schools pay $1,000 to access all books covered under the scheme for a year, while those in all-age and junior high schools pay $600. The Government pays the textbook access fee for students who parents cannot afford to do so. Participation in the scheme is not mandatory.
However this means that parents who choose not to participate, will have to bear the full costs of all the books their children need.
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