Underprivileged To Pay Secondary School Fees In Installments, Apply for Withdrawal

Following the increment of school fees in Public Secondary Schools, parents can pay fees in installments or withdraw their child for single academic year if they don’t have money.

To achieve cost sharing Ministry of Education Science and Technology recently, announced upward revisions of fees paid for various categories in Public Secondary Schools with immediate effect in 2015/2016 Academic Year. Government said previous rates were “unrealistic and too little”

Mussa: parents can negotiate with head teachers

Speaking in Lilongwe on Wednesday evening, Director of Secondary and Distance Education, Chikondano Mussa, says in view of the new changes Head Teachers have already been advised to give students adequate time to pay school fees. 

She therefore advised parents and guardians having difficulties in paying fees at once to negotiate with Head Teachers on modalities on how to pay school fees by installments. However she said installments should be done within one specific term.

In her speech, Mussa said in situations where parents have completely failed to find fees, there is an option of application for withdrawal of their child and reserve the place. 

“They should write to the Education Division Manager through the Head Teacher, a letter of withdrawal of their child from school in that academic year and request for the place to be reserved for the following academic year.” Said Mussa

But she has indicated that when the reservation period elapse, students would be required to apply for the re-admission in the following academic year at their previous school.

“The reservation of the place is only for one year except where medical condition and other circumstances dictate otherwise” she stated

Among other grounds set for possible withdrawal are; being pregnant or responsible for pregnancy, prolonged sickness and taking care of siblings (in case of child headed family) but the ministry stressed that evidence must be provided when making the application for withdrawal or re-admission.

Noting that a good number of students failed to proceed with the education because of lack of school fees and other vulnerabilities, Mussa said Government and other stakeholders will continue to provide bursaries to the neediest of the needy students in Public Secondary Schools through bursary scheme that was introduced in 2010 along with guidelines to govern bursary provision.

Mussa indicated that bursary structures are currently at three levels; school based bursary committee, District based bursary committee, and division bursary committee. 

She said the Ministry provides twenty bursary beneficiary identification forms to all public schools which a school bursary committee use to identify, rank and select the most vulnerable students according to their “degree of neediness”

She then urged parents and guardians to check with their District Councils on what other types of bursaries exist within their district which could be accessed by their children