To pay or not to pay - The vexed issue of auxiliary fees

Verona Antoine-Smith, Guest Columnist

The high cost of tuition-free education in Jamaica highlights the difficulty confronted by the Government in providing quality education and the financial burdens encountered by parents to access it. The latter is most evident in the back-to-school periods, and this year was no different.

Several parents had to dig deep into their pockets to finance another set of books, uniforms, and incidentals, along with the controversial auxiliary fees. For many of them, the vexed issue of auxiliary fees remained - to pay or not to pay?

The matter of auxiliary fees has a contentious history in the local education system. As it relates to public schools, there is a less-than-satisfactory number of school administrators who wrestle with the decision of how to complete the unfinished projects from a previous budget, while ensuring that sufficient funds are procured for recurrent expenditure.

Many can attest to the fact that efforts to persuade parents to pay these fees have become a vital strategy to cover the shortfalls of the Government's subvention. Contrastingly, parents have to decide how to acquire all the requisite educational items and still pay the fees. Some argue that they have already contributed to the school through education taxes.

Education in any part of the world is costly, and back-to-school preparations mirror that reality. One such example is purchasing textbooks. Despite the Ministry of Education's (MOE) textbook-distribution programme, this cost is rather unsettling as additional textbooks are almost always required. Hard pressed, several parents resort to a selection process. Some choose based on personal values of the respective subjects while those with more than one child make their selection based on what I label as the ICU: Intensive Class Unit. In other words, they evaluate the demands of each child's grade and whichever is deemed more critical will be prioritised. Among parents, the ICUs are those classes where the child is expected to sit national and/or external examinations, most notably the GSAT and CSEC examinations.

Determining affordability

A review of government documents will highlight the fact that education is not free. Free education, as commonly expressed by laypersons, was intended to mean tuition-free only, as each student's tuition is fully subsidised by the government; For this reason, the MOE insists that the subvention is sufficient to cover operational costs.

But while many principals welcome the full payments, they disagree. They argue that if it had not been for strong church and/or alumnus support, corporate partnerships, and active parent-teacher associations, their school funds would diminish.

This year, the budgetary allocation to the MOE's capital expenditure was reduced. Nevertheless, Education Minister Andrew Holness insists that a scarcity of resources should neither be a limit to development nor the quality of education. From an economic perspective, is this really possible? Certainly, no child must be prevented from his/her access on the grounds of failure to pay auxiliary fees.

But, frankly speaking, how does one accurately determine if parents can afford to pay? For, indeed, there are those who can but do not because of its non-binding framework, while, strangely enough, there are others who can't but feel obliged to pay it and do. This difference demonstrates the value some parents place on education. According to Burrup, Brimley and Garfield (1999), parents pay more attention to their child's education when they have to pay. Now, with respect to those parents who have questioned the rationale for these discretionary charges, the main justifications are the high cost of operating schools and, more important, the threats posed to the learning process when they are not present. These include public utilities, instructional materials, security services and the general maintenance of property.

While there is strong justification for auxiliary fees, the real controversy does not rest with the parents' willingness and ability to pay, but fundamentally with the fact that school subvention is insufficient. It is a serious miscalculation to believe that a flat-rate approach to financing schools is adequate. The per capita rate is calculated based on a cost analysis of the core educational services only. This, however, should be modified to include the total educational service.

More flaws

Another flaw is presuming that all schools (at a given level) are similar and can thus be adequately maintained by equal contributions. In Jamaican schools, some of the characteristics which account for varied operational costs include (a) school location; (b) plant size and infrastructure; (c) student population; and (d) the disparity in academic programmes, particularly in secondary schools.

The Education Act (1980) assigns the principal with the financial management of schools. Recently, there has been much discourse about accountability at that level. However, as with any other challenge encountered in the school, effective principals will not relent in their efforts to sustain the schools' revenue. They will initiate ways to ameliorate funding.

The most readily available backup has long been, and remains, these controversial auxiliary fees. Since the implementation of the tuition-free policy, applying increases to other critical areas of school life has also been employed. Unfortunately, these costs are also borne by the parents.

On the other hand, some principals appear inconsiderate in their efforts to achieve the maximum compliance from parents. They behave as though fees are mandatory and that every single parent can afford it. They should be mindful of the fact that, like the schools they manage, the incomes of parents vary. Some are unemployed. What school administrators should do is exercise greater discretion in setting these fees; minimise expenditure in the school by implementing cost-cutting measures; use the available resources efficiently, and through consultation with the parent body, seek to encourage not compel them to pay.

No one can dispute the fact that the fees are needed, but it must be clearly understood that although academic development remains the primary focus of education, which requires adequate funding, these goals will remain elusive if school leaders fail to operate in tandem with reality.

An amicable resolution to the auxiliary-fee issue is now long overdue. The MOE must intervene to ensure that this is achieved. One suggestion is to standardise and enforce the fees with alternative provisions for those who cannot afford to pay. It will provide additional revenue to schools to bolster the subvention and, to some extent, rebuild a sense of responsibility and commitment to education on the part of parents.

Additionally, any action that supports the notion that these fees are unnecessary should be dispelled. It is a fallacy to believe that the full compliance of the Government in the payment of tuition fees means schools have sufficient funds to meet their operational costs. And any policy initiative intended to adequately finance education in Jamaica must yield vertical equity at the school and student levels if transforming education is the ultimate goal.

According to the World Bank (1999), financing schools through vertical equity takes into account the fact that the needs of schools are different, so different sums are required to bring them on par. Some of the financial adjustments recommended by the World Bank include: (a) adjustment based on individual pupil needs; (b) adjustment based on grade level and programme of study; and (c) adjustment for school size.

In concluding, it is not sufficient to assume that the socio-economic profile of the school's clientele will determine the amount of resources schools have. Rather, what matters is directly dependent on the willingness of that clientele to contribute. So, in view of national constraints to finance the education system and the fact that the school environment ultimately influences student performance, parents must determine how much, if at all, they will contribute to the school's development programme.

The new academic year has started. Some parents have paid the auxiliary fees while others are still contemplating. For those who can afford to pay it, you are so encouraged. For those who can only make part payments, remember that 'every mickle mek a muckle'.

And, finally, for those who wish to do so but genuinely cannot, you may contribute to the school's development efforts in other forms, such as knowledge and skills. One must always take into account the fact that schools are also driven by social conditions; the positive values and attitudes of their immediate community - the parents.

Verona Antoine-Smith is a high-school teacher with a master's in educational administration. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and bergirls@hotmail.com.