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The Ministry of Education is sounding a stern warning to Heads of Schools and School Management Committees who have been neglecting their responsibilities in the upkeep of the school.
In acknowledging the concerns raised by management in the media, the Minister for Education, Honourable Aseri Radrodro reiterated that βthe planning on the maintenance and development of school resources, buildings, facilities and finances are duties of School Managers and Committees together with the Head of School which is clearly demarcated in the 2020 School Management Handbook.β
Minister Radrodro also stated that matters of such serious concerns were accorded considerable time, resources and efforts. The two teams from the Ministry of Education who had visited Nabua Primary School to inspect and verify claims by the media, stated that the school had issues of misuse of the free education grant and deteriorating state of the buildings which were estimated to be 88 years old.
Honourable Radrodro stated that βunless school committees and communities take ownership of their schools, the quality of education will always be questionable.β
In light of this, the Ministry is actively engaging with stakeholders, community leaders and District Officers to address the infrastructural needs. It is the aim of the Coalition government to work collaboratively with stakeholders to discuss potential pathways to address challenges in the schools.
With regards to the issue on transport challenges faced by students of Natusara Village School, the Minister for Education, Hon. Aseri Radrodro refutes claims that students would miss exams as a result of RSL transport providers ceasing their transport services.
“The interruption of transportation of students is not affecting the examination of the Year 8 students as they had already sat for the FY8E in Week 3 of Term 3,” said Hon. Radrodro.
He further added that they will have their annual exams next week as initially scheduled.
“Classes are normal at Natusara Primary School as of this morning. The Transport Provider has resumed their services to ensure that students have access to school,” he stated.
The Education Minister has assured that payments have been processed at the standard rate of $1.12. It will take approximately five working days to process payments upon submission of all relevant documents to respective District Office.
Any request for additional vouchers must be submitted to the district office with the following;
Β· Letter of request from the service provider
Β· Support letter from the community and the HOS
Β· Cost analysis
The same has been relayed to the transport service providers for the initiation of their request and also emphasised that consultations are progressing on the release of due payments for their services.
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