By Fasalie Sulaiman Kamara
Delays in payment of government subsidy have disrupted the operations of some schools which are adopting measures that have weighed down negatively on parents.
As a result of the effect of the Ebola outbreak, the government had volunteered to pay school fees for all school going pupils in the country to cushion the effect on parents.
Some heads of government and government-assisted schools said they were finding it very difficult to run their schools due to the delays.
At the Sierra Leone International Mission Senior Secondary (SLIMSS), in eastern Freetown, they have decided to increase school fees, much to the chagrin of parents.
“We have exhausted our account and government is yet to send any money and we normally pay stipends to teachers that are not on pay roll,” principal Lionel Kanu told Politico.
SLIMSS, like many government-assisted schools, use part of their school fees to pay a bulk of their teachers who are not on government pay roll.
At SLIMSS, such teachers, referred to as unapproved, receive Le150, 000 per month as salary. There are 20 of them. This means the school pays out a total of Le 3 million each year.
“If we stop paying those stipends to teachers that are not on payroll, they will definitely stop coming to class and the pupils will have to suffer,” Kanu warned.
According to sources close to school authorities, no school in the country has received the 2015/16 subsidy.
One of the parents at SLIMSS, who talked to Politico on condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisal, bemoaned the pressure caused by the delay in payment of subsidy which had forced school authorities to request for additional money from parents.
“The school has requested that we should pay Le50, 000 per pupil.As parents this is a heavy burden on us,” they said.
This parent has three pupils in the senior secondary school which means she has to pay Le 150, 000, within two weeks. The school authorities have, however, acknowledged that the school had valid reason to request for such money.
“The money is meant for paying of stipends to teachers that are not on payroll and also printing of question papers and answer sheets for their exams.”
The Government had trumpeted the idea of paying schools for pupils as a way of reducing the burden on parents caused by the Ebola epidemic. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology was to implement the action.
Brima Micheal Turay, Public Relations Officer in the ministry of education, confirmed to Politico in a telephone interview that government was yet to pay school fees subsidy for the 2015/16 academy year as promised.He blamed the delay on the ministry of finance.
“The matter is between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance. We don’t have control over it. If the Ministry of Finance is willing to pay they will pay,” Turay said, adding that they had submitted all documentations to the effect.
SLIMSS Principal, Lionel Kanu, had earlier accused the Education Minister,Dr Minkailu Bah, of double standard.
“The school has a voucher with fourteen teachers on it. In addition to that, we are benefiting from government subventions including the school fees subsidy. But when it comes to recruitment of teachers, the minister said the school is still not regarded as government assisted school,” he lamented.
(C) Politico 09/03/16
