‘Free’ education pays off

A day before the start of the academic year, principals at Windhoek secondary schools have expressed gratitude at the introduction of universal secondary education. They say they will now receive 100% of school fees, as the government pays N$500 per learner to the schools, whereas in the past only a few parents managed to pay the school development fund which has now been scrapped. Last year, the government abolished the compulsory payment of school development funds to secondary schools, meaning that no public schools, except for private schools and Namcol, may require payment of school fees. In order to implement the policy, an amount of N$30 million was made available for the 2015/16 financial year for fee-free secondary education implementation from January to March 2016. A further budgetary provision of N$120 million will be requested from the Treasury for the 2016/17 financial year. Ella du Plessis High School principal Jakavaza Kavari, was ecstatic about the government funding. “To be honest, I am sitting with a smile. It is like manna falling from heaven at Ella du Plessis,” Kavari said. “Our school fees used to be N$800 per learner, but this amount we could not get from all 1 000 learners. Only 50% were able to pay. Now we will receive N$500 per learner from the ministry.” Kavari said this meant that the school’s budget would increase to N$500 000 instead of N$350 000 to N$400 000. “For me now, this means less stress, a blessing and we are very grateful to the government for having taken this bold step to save us and we will not argue with parents anymore.” According to Kavari the school has received half of the stationery it had ordered. “But we also informed parents that should know that their children need books and this is where we need to meet as school and parents. We will know by next week whether we have any shortages and we will communicate this with the parents to contribute or to buy.” Cosmos High School principal Eben Makari said his school would not see much change, as the school already had a culture of admitting learners irrespective of school fees. “The real traffic will only be determined Wednesday. That is when we will know how many learners we have and how many spaces we have left,” said Makari. Just like Kavari, he believes that the school will get more money from the government than it used to get from parents. Makari urged parents to meet the government halfway and become more involved in the education of their children. “Just because education is free does not mean that learners and parents should not take it seriously.” Makari also said that his school had received only half the stationery ordered from the government. A principal of another school said they would rely on money saved from last year’s school development fund until the government fully rolls out free secondary education. STAFF REPORTER