Educator discredits Jordan’s defence of 14% VAT on education

… petitions for removal of tax submitted to Govt

Finance Minister Winston Jordan’s justification for imposing 14 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) on private education was discredited by Director of Nations University, Dr Brian O’Toole, who exposed the reality with public educational services and showed that many families make significant sacrifices to send their children to private institutions.

Dr O’Toole contended that the great majority of students attending private educational institutions in Guyana are from humble backgrounds and can only attend these places of learning as a result of the sacrifice on the part of their family

members.

In a number of cases, he said these same students may now be forced out of these schools because of the additional tax, a reality acknowledged by Minister Jordon.

“It has been said that these students ‘have a choice.’ For some that may be true, but that is not true for the majority,” the educator posited, alluding to the several tertiary level educational services which are not available in the public sector.

“There is simply no comparable, internationally recognised programme, available in the public domain. The great majority of these youth come from humble backgrounds. If the 14 per cent VAT is not lifted we have been informed that many of them will be simply unable to pay and will return home to join the ranks of the unemployed and indeed the unemployable,” he explained.

Dr O’Toole also argued that it is precisely because of the limitations in the public education system that led thousands of parents in Guyana, from all walks of life, to make the sacrifice to move to private education.

“Is the choice then to return to the very system that is in need of such help? The same decision to opt for private education has indeed also been made by a number of Government ministers for their own children,” he stated.

Moreover, the Director asked if the choice is to return to the public system, then how will that system be able to cope with the return of literally thousands of students to classrooms that are already overcrowded and under resourced.

Dr O’Toole recognised that Minister Jordan said many of the 54 private education providers are not “tax compliant” and are in fact operating under some umbrella of “charter school” status and therefore not liable for tax.

But he argued if that is indeed the case, then surely the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) can examine the issues.

Additionally, Dr O’Toole noted with concern that it has also been suggested that institutions like Nations should simply absorb the 14 per cent increase and add these additional millions to the existing taxes they pay.

The educator highlighted that over the past two weeks, there has been extensive coverage on the VAT on education and almost every comment supported the abolition of this burden.

“Indeed, almost the only comments in support of this tax have been from members of the Government,” he recognised.

Petition

Dr O’Toole noted that the depth of the feeling about this issue is eloquently illustrated by the more than 1,324 comments on the petition which was submitted to the Government on Friday.

Copies of the petition were dispatched to the Ministries of Education, Finance and the Presidency.

He said those comments display disillusionment, dismay and disenchantment with a system that imposes further hardship on an already hard-pressed populace.

Further, he made it clear that there is no political agenda behind this petition.

“We have avoided the overtures from a variety of political opposition who wanted to turn this grassroots response, into a political game – we have resisted all these attempts,” he said.

Dr O’Toole said it is surely the hope of the 13,000 plus persons who signed this petition that the Government will defend, support and indeed champion the attempts of its citizens, from all corners, to improve the future for their children so that they may be given the opportunity that previous administrations may have denied them.

“We simply request you support for their vision, their hopes and the dreams they have for their children to simply be all that they can be. We ask the Government to change its decision on this matter. Clearly it is not an easy decision, but thousands of persons from all regions of Guyana, and many corners of the diaspora, are saying that is it now the right decision to make,” he stated.

Meanwhile, a protest is organised by concerned students, parents and other stakeholders for February 28 outside of the GRA from 12:00h.