Rivercess County – The Parents Teachers Association of the main government high school in Rivercess County is preparing to hold a mass meeting to demand the overturn of a decision by the school’s administration requesting each student to pay L$2,500 as fees.
Report by Alpha Daffae Senkpeni, [email protected]
Cestos High is the main government high school in the entire Rivercess County
Already, according to the Secretary General of the National Teachers Association of Liberia Rivercess Chapter, the increase in fees is keeping over 100 students out of school as the PTA gears up for the crucial meeting in the county on Sunday, October 16.
The Ministry of Education recently announced that government-run senior high students across the country should pay L$700 as fees for the current academic year.
Aware of this MoE mandate, the PTA is arguing that decision to inflate the amount was never discussed with parents.
“They have added LD$1,800 to this amount that the MoE requested without of the parents,” said Charles Harrison Teah, a member of the PTA of Cestos High School.
PTA Chairman Wilson Nimely alleged that both the District and County Education Officers were supporting the inflation of the fees because -“They will get percentages of the funds collected from the students.”
“County education Officer is the one giving the instruction to the school administration.
He’s even demanding percentage as his own share, saying that they should charge the fees and give him percentage.
These are information that we are getting, but on Sunday we will come out with our decision,” added Teah.
And chairman Nimely stressed that the situation had kept many students out of school, including self-supported students and those travelling for far distances to the county’s capital to seek higher education.
“Some of the students attending Cestos High are from faraway clans, and all parents know and have heard is that the government is saying that a student should pay only LD$700.00,” Nimely explained to FrontPage Africa via mobile phone.
According to MoE, school administration can add additional fees with the consent of the PTA.
FPA recently reported that Liberians in rural communities were expressing concerns over the L$3,500 increment for kindergarten pupils by government.
But in the case of the Cestos High School, the PTA is claiming that the school’s authority, with backing from the county educational authority, has rejected several requests to hold meeting this academic year.
When contacted, the resident District Education Officer (DEO) of Tembo District said he was investigating the situation, while claiming that the school was in transition.
DEO Closton Dorgben argues that the fees were not tuition but fees intended to cover activities including ID card, PE uniform and other items like toiletries.
While confirming that the parents are planning a massive meeting over the weekend, Dorgben said that the MoE authorized that additional fees must be arranged with the approval of the parents.
“If the parents are saying that their children must not pay money for tissues, ID card, PE t-shirts, who am I to say they should not do that?” He rhetorically asked.
Dorgben, however, declined to say whether parents were part of the decision making process but said he would conduct an investigation t ascertain the details.
CEO Samuel Bondo claims that he’s unaware of the sharp increment at Cestos High School and maintained that he dealt directly with the DEO instead of school principles.
Bondo also denied allegation that he recently demanded payment before distributing chairs purchased by central government for public schools across the county.
Bondo, a former lawmaker of Bong County, was rejected by his kinsmen after his appointment as County Education Officer for his native Bong County, before his reappointment by President Sirleaf to Rivercess.
He called on his accusers to get tangible evidence before making allegations against him.
“People just want to make up stories,” he said, “because whenever you are found in an institution where you want to institute the right thing, a lot of people want to go against you.”
On the other hand, the former Bong County lawmaker brags about making progress in the county school system by extending the Yarpah Town Junior High School to a senior high level, and said he continued to rigidly supervise public schools in hard-to-reach areas in the county.
Rivercess County has numerous challenges affecting its school system with the lack of qualified teachers one of its major setbacks.
Many teachers are reportedly rejecting assignment in the county because of the lack of basic social services in rural communities.
Since the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf-led government declared a free and compulsory primary and secondary education in the country, there have been multiple challenges dogging the system, with result of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) showing poor performance.