Buildings blamed for top‐ up fees
LOBAMBA - Top- up fees are mostly caused by schools which insist on the construction of buildings in most instances without the approval of the Ministry of Education and Training.
This was s ai d by t he Principal Secretary in the ministry Betrarm Stewart.
The PS was responding to a statement made by the Public Accounts Committee ( PAC) Chairperson Phila Buthelezi, who said t here was a notion that the committee was seemingly against top- up fees.
He said this was not true except that they encouraged schools to always apply to the ministry for permission to charge parents or guardians additional fees.
The PS said if they encouraged schools to apply for top- up fees then it would be a norm.
He said t he challenge was t hat schools then set up faulty buildings as they did not have the expertise in building.
Encourage
“We encourage them to apply and then we can use the Micro Project Unit which has a technical knowhow, on the construction of buildings,” he said.
Stewart said another challenge was that schools were keen on building extra classes yet the ministry at that point had made no arrangement to hire extra people.
The PAC discussed t his matter during the appearance of Tfokotani Primary School Head teacher Micah Tsabedze, who had to justify why the school had paid about E45 000 to individuals who had provided services to the school instead of companies as per the law.
The head teacher in response said they paid individuals less money than what formal companies charged.
He also highlighted that they normally asked people from the same area to provide the services as they also exercised patience when not paid on time.
Tsabedze said the payments from government usually came in April and July which was delayed payment of service providers.
“That is why we find ourselves in this mess because companies refuse to supply us as payments are delayed,” submitted Tsabedze.
He said after t hey had been i nformed that it was against government regulations paying individuals, they had since stopped.
Reasonble
Meanwhile, Deputy PAC Chairperson MP Musa Kunene said the head teacher’s explanation was quite reasonable especially for schools in the rural areas as there were a few businesses there.
The PAC stated for now though it thought the head teachers must follow procedure.