Auxiliary confusion

Dear Editor,

I am confused, and perhaps someone in authority may shed some light on what happened at the meetings between the Ministry of Education and the principals.

Minister of Education Senator Ruel Reid, during several public addresses, said unequivocally that auxiliary fees had been abolished. Now I thought that meant goodbye to the fees being charged by high schools. Of course, there was further discussion, which led to a concession by the Government, since they could not reasonably fund how much all the schools were losing.

So here’s the root of my confusion: If this was done to alleviate parents, why weren’t parents consulted before the decision was made? You would think this reasonable.

I called the ministry when I saw no reduction. In any event, there was no parent-teachers’ meeting at the school to receive my feedback.

Perhaps my confusion is behind what is termed ‘auxiliary’, because this must be some new fee that materialised out of thin air that should have been imposed come this new school year.

If everything was clear the minister would not have to personally intervene for each student that gets sent home for unpaid auxiliary fees.

I know I must seem like a totally uneducated person for asking these questions, and certainly the Government would not wish to keep it that way. But, then again, how else would they get votes?

Robert Howell

Grateful Hill, St Catherine

rsjhowelljm@gmail.com