|
Momodou
Denmark
11761 Posts |
 Posted - 24 Oct 2010 : 14:57:49
|
Foroyaa Editorial: IS THE SKY OR POVERTY THE LIMIT TO ACCESS TO EDUCATION?
22-10-10
Weeks have elapsed since many schools opened for the 2010/2011 academic year. Countless numbers of children are still not in school. They and their parents are still roaming about in search of people who would be generous enough to assist them.
If an announcement was made today to call on all students who are yet to be able to meet the financial requirements for their education the turn out would be alarming. The cost of education is becoming prohibitive to poor families.
The Minister of Basic and Secondary Education needs to establish a task force to look at the charges being imposed on parents and students/pupils before they are enrolled and recommend a standardization of the cost of educating a child at each level in the government or government sponsored schools as a start.
Let us take the case of one Upper Basic School in the KMC area, name withheld. An orphan came to the Foroyaa office to seek financial support to enable him to continue with his grade 7 educations. He was asked to bring the bill so that we could find out whether we could influence a Good Samaritan to assist him. The bill was above two thousand dalasis. We photocopied the bill and started to refer it to a number of people. The huge sum involved in educating a grade 7 student at the Upper Basic Level is turning off sponsors. The child had to be referred to another Upper Basic School for enrollment with the hope that the cost would be lower.
The parents cannot understand why one school would charge hundreds of dalasis, another a little above one thousand and yet another over 2000 dalasis. There is complete chaos in the system of financing education. Many parents we have spoken to prefer standardization of cost in all Government Schools. The task force need to identify the pro poor schools and use them as models of people centred educational institutions. In the mean time we arte looking for a school in the KMC area that will be able to absorb this enthusiastic orphan.
Source: Foroyaa
|
A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
|
Topic Locked
