Noel Thompson, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

On the first day of the new school term, the cry was similar in at least two institutions in St Elizabeth - sporting activities could either be aborted or significantly curtailed due to a lack of funds.

Lewisville and Black River High schools, as well as other institutions across the parish, are experiencing difficulty in raising much-needed money to run their annual funding programmes.

Ardith Forbes, principal of Lewisville High, said because the State does not support schools imposing "other charges" outside the remit of Government, it was difficult for her school to raise the money.

$3,500 per student

Pointing to an estimated annual cost of $3,500 per child, Forbes said: "Each student would be furnished with physical education gear, health insurance, identification card, hymnals, among other contributions and sporting paraphernalia."

The headmistress insisted that the institution could not use school fees to finance competitive sport. She said funding woes had hobbled plans to outfit grade 10 and 11 students for vocational subjects, which cost an extra $1,100. The school has to pick up this cost.

A similar cry was echoed by Barrington Buchanan, principal of Black River High.

When The Gleaner team visited the school Tuesday, Buchanan said teachers from the Physical Education Department were locked in a meeting aimed at devising creative means to fund its sporting programme.

"We are examining the upcoming intersecondary school sports and are trying to find out where we are going to get the funding from.

"Parents have been advised by the education ministry not to pay any other charges, so we don't know how we are going to run our sports," Buchanan mentioned.

Asked if he had devised any new fund-raising methods, Buchanan said: "No, it seems the sports will have to die, particularly at the secondary school level."