Ex BCL workers� children owe P11M in school fees
Onalenna Kelebeile | Wednesday June 7, 2017 16:55
The parents were informed that as a result, the school was owed P1.2 million for the two terms. The failure to pay, the management told the parents, has put the school in dire financial complications.
A letter that the school head wrote to concerned parents stated that up to now the Government hasnot paid for the ex BCL employees children and that numerous submissions have been made to Government.
“While we remain hopeful that the payment will be made as soon as possible as it has been indicated to us, we nonetheless have to make contingency plans in case there is further delay because there are serious financial implications for the school,” the letter reads.
It is six months now since English medium schools have been waiting to receive the P11 million incentive that Government promised in November 2016 for former BCL employees students school fees.
The P11 million school fees was one of the key actions under the Economic Revitalisation Strategy that Government approved in the last quarter of last year. As an immediate intervention, it committed itself to continue paying school fees for children of former BCL employees for 2017 at a cost of P11 million. The office of the coordinator of the revitalisation programme, the District Commissioner and the Ministry of Basic Education were tasked with working out details to implement the decision.
The agreement was that the Government would pay the school fees of retrenched BCL employees’ children, about 100 of whom are at Mount Pleasant School and 87 at Kopano School. According to information from the parents, the schools have told them they can only manage to sustain themselves only up to the end of this term after which they fear trouble. They have submitted all that was required by Government.The Monday meeting also appointed a team of five parents to take their concerns to mayor Molosiwa Molosiwa’s office.
Molosiwa told Mmegi that he met a team from Kopano and acknowledged that English medium schools were commercial institutions, hence offering their services without pay puts a huge strain on them.
“It was also brought to my attention that out of the 87 students, seven were expatriates who it was understood that they were also covered under the Government’s initiative only to learn that they were not included. So they are in dilemma,” he said.
Molosiwa said his office has made all necessary efforts to have the issue of private schools addressed. “I called Minister Nonofo Molefhi who was of great assistance and I can assure you that the issue is on the table and we are expecting a positive feedback this week,” he said.
He insisted that Government has not reneged on its decision, but the process is long.
Though he could not be drawn to discuss issues from the Monday meeting, Kopano English Medium school head Nasim Miller confirmed in the previous interview that they have not received the funds that they were promised, but was confident that the money will arrive. “Our communication with the Ministry of Education is showing that the ministry is still ironing out some issues and that the money is there earmarked for us,” he said.
He added that they had to suspend certain developments and feared that if the money did not come, the school would have to consider downsizing again after they downsized and redeployed staff at the end of last year. “We are taking a strain already, but we are managing. We have lost 100 students as compared to our previous intake and if the money does not come, we will shrink again. That would mean loss of jobs. If the money does not come soon, there will be trouble because currently we are carrying 86 students for free,” he said. The school has also frozen any salary increments.
Mount Pleasant School on the other hand is currently surviving on surplus that is also getting depleted. The school has already suspended some projects, but will wait up to next year to consider downsizing. Four of the schools classrooms are vacant because management had projected ahead and they are thinking of introducing evening classes.
The school head, Edna Swaniker said they have not been given the exact time when Government would pay, but noted that the school can only sustain itself until end of this term.
“We have suspended projects such as building a screen wall and renovating the swimming pool among others until the money arrives.
I’m afraid that at the end of this term, we will be running on a very lean budget,” she said.
The fact that Government failed to deliver on its commitment has not gone down well with Business Botswana. It has made a recommendation in its draft report, presented by Professor Happy Siphambe, on the town’s economy after the Mine closure, that it must swiftly ensure that the commitment that Government made on payment of school fees for the whole year of 2017 be adhered to and that payments be done expeditiously