Government should listen to the cries of the silent majority on the matter of 14% VAT on private education

Dear Editor, In a matter of days, Guyana will be celebrating its 51st year of independence. Almost everyone would agree that over the last 51 years, one of the bedrock areas of agreement in this country has been that education has been a core commitment of every government since independence. We might disagree about what subjects should be taught in schools or which prayers should be recited, but we have rarely wavered in our recognition that affordable universal education is a right bequeathed to the children of Guyana, for the sake of the country’s current and future wellbeing.

It’s against this compelling background that The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GCCI) joins the growing voices of reason and rationality in calling on the Government of Guyana to rescind the 14% VAT on private tuition with immediate effect.

The government announced that 14% VAT on private tuition will be reexamined in the next budget cycle, but we urge government to consider changing this position urgently and heed to the call of a massive section of society.

VAT on education is not borne by the private school operators, but by the parents of the children attending school. VAT is a consumer tax and the consumer of education is the children/students, and the parents of the children or aspiring professionals have to bear the brunt of this added expense. The GCCI questions the collective wisdom of the decision-makers to impose this tax on development, as it impedes the structural building of capacity in Guyana.

The GCCI also raises the matter of local content capacity development in the oil and gas sector. As it relates to the private training and development of personnel to supply this sector, this will be constrained by higher taxes as a result of the 14% VAT and will stymie development in this area.

Within weeks of the 14% of VAT on private tuition more than 10% of the 800 students at a leading private education institution have dropped out and joined the ever-swelling ranks of the unemployed and unemployable in Guyana. Furthermore, if the thousands of students at the eight offshore medical schools cannot find the additional 14%, they may soon join the ranks of the unemployed.

Many parents are sacrificing with difficulty during these challenging times in the economic affairs of our country, in order to see their children have an education in a healthy, academic and secure environment.

If the proprietors of private schools are not meeting their tax liabilities, the government has ways and means of dealing with those defaulters, and we encourage government to go after those defaulters. But with the interest of this country’s current and future well-being, we cannot stand by and remain silent.

We urge the Government of Guyana to listen to the cries and voices of the silent majority of Guyanese in this critical matter of national importance, and rescind the punishing 14% imposition of VAT on private tuition. Failing to do so does not merely punish the individuals who cannot afford the 14% VAT on private tuition, but it also robs the rest of us of the opportunity to share in the good life that is possible when young people are enabled to reach their potential. Yours faithfully, Wayne Seecharan For Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry