By Shirlyn Belden
The Department of Education said it intends to fully roll out the free education subsidy to schools by the end of the first academic quarter.
Deputy secretary policy Luke Taita on Thursday said K185 million had been paid to 5,835 schools on Jan 27, while 1,666 schools would be paid by this week.
The remaining 3,835 schools that are yet to submit school and bank account details have been urged to do so as early as possible.
Taita said the national government would add K302 million from its supplementary budget to top off to K602 million to fully cover all schools in the country.
“By the end of the week or next week, we are able to pay out 66% of the subsidy to schools. Payment is done electronically after verification by the department and Bank South Pacific before it is transferred to the school accounts,” he said.
He urged schools to establish bank accounts and submit the details to the department for verification before they are approved by Bank South Pacific for payment into school accounts. Schools with ANZ and Westpac banks will have their share transferred to their accounts.
The subsidy payout will vary according to the student enrolment for each school.
There are two aspects to the free education policy – free tuition fee for preparatory to Grade 10 levels and subsidised tuition for secondary, vocational and inclusive institutes for the handicapped. Mission-run schools are included in the free education programme.
Taita said as a directive of the National Executive Council all schools should refrain from charging full tuition fees.
He said he was unaware of some schools charging full fees but said: “They must stop as they will still benefit from the government’s allocation.”
Taita said project fees were linked to physical development in schools and was charged according to project proposals approved by provincial education boards.
He said it should not be taken as part of tuition fees.
The department is working closely with BSP to process all necessary preparations and transfers for schools with bank accounts outside BSP.
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