Fund-raising must go through school board system
-Jeffrey
Stabroek News
June 27, 2003
Fund-raising activities at schools must be implemented through a school board system, and teachers should not be involved in school, Education Minister Dr Henry Jeffrey said recently.
However, teachers are allowed to help in fund-raising activities but the responsibility for the funds must be in the hands of the school board or Parent-Teachers Association (PTA), Jeffrey said in an address to the Chairman and members of the Regional Democratic Council in Lethem, Region Nine (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo).
The minister also said that teachers are not allowed to operate canteens in schools, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported. The canteen policy, Jeffrey said, has been circulated to all schools countrywide, and it states that “if a school wishes to have a canteen, it must be done by a process of open tenders in the area and the tender must be done by a committee such as a school board in the area.”
Jeffrey said further, GINA reported, that teachers are not at liberty to request funds from parents, in cases where they want to sell uniforms to raise money in the schools, or if they have problems with the canteen, these issues can now be dealt with by the school board.
He said that the Education Ministry would like every school to have a school board that would be responsible for funds.
“This will take away the problems where complaints have been made about teachers misusing funds and forcing money out of people. However, in most cases after investigations are carried out, the reports are not true,” GINA quoted Minister Jeffrey as saying.
The new education proposal, Jeffrey said, will govern all the relations within the education system and will enable school boards to be implemented.
And persons from the private sector, PTAs and Regional Democratic Councils (RDCs) can play a vital role in making schools better and ensuring they are managed properly and that headteachers are doing what they are paid for, the Education Minister added.
He also said, GINA reported, that the RDC should monitor the schools in the Region and ensure that teachers are doing what they are paid for and make recommendations for their dismissal when they are not performing.
