Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, is urging secondary school principals to ensure that the cost of registration packages are in keeping with the Ministry’s funding guidelines.

Under the guidelines issued on June 26 following consultations with principals, registration fees should be kept between $1,000 and $5,000.

“School administrators must understand that all charges for registration packages must first be approved by the Ministry of Education before they are implemented,” Mr. Reid said.

“Non-payment of fees cannot affect students’ acceptance of school placement or registration to school,” he noted further.

Senator Reid was addressing a graduation ceremony held recently at the John Rollins Success Primary School in Rose Hall, St. James.

He said that board chairmen are being asked to provide guidance and ensure that school administrators follow the directive in order to minimise the cost to parents and ensure that no child is disenfranchised as they prepare for the upcoming school year.

The Minister informed that regional officers will be vigilant over the next few weeks in providing support for schools and to make sure that there is no deviation from the policy position of the Ministry.

The Government has abolished auxiliary fees for high schools and has increased the funding to institutions from $ 2.6 billion to $5.1 billion. Parents are being encouraged to make a non-obligatory contribution to schools.

The Ministry has stipulated that the contribution being requested by schools should not exceed $20,000.00, inclusive of registration fee.

 For those schools whose contribution is more than this amount, the specific case must be presented to the respective Regional Director for approval to be granted.

Source: Jamaica Information Service