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| PNG Education Minister Nick Kuman |
He told Parliament yesterday that the Government was spending a lot of money on education so that all children could go to school.
He said there was no point in students being turned away from school because they had not paid project fees or other fees.
He was responding to a question from Lae MP Loujaya Kouza on the matter because it was causing a lot of confusion for parents and schools.
“The Government so far has paid over K3 billion (in the tuition fee-free subsidy) to date. When you look at our GDP, 22 per cent of it is spent on education to provide accessibility for our children.”
He said the Education Department had set the fees but Cabinet took over the responsibility of paying the fees.
“Therefore, there should not be any form of fees collected by any schools and their boards as mentioned in the circular sent to schools by the secretary (Dr Michael Tapo) three weeks ago,” Kuman said.
Kuman urged schools to comply with the government instruction
“Schools should not say they have no money to begin the school year and charge students.
“Their money will be paid into their accounts this week,” Kuman sauid
He urged parents to call the department and report any schools charging fees on numbers which would be published tomorrow in the media. The National