Mae’s reportedly hikes school fees

– despite Education Ministry’s decision to withdraw VAT on education

Several parents of the Mae’s Schools have voiced their concerns in light of the institution’s decision to raise its fees.
While some parents were informed of the hike in the rates, others indicated that they were unaware of this decision.
One concerned parent, who spoke to Guyana Times on Thursday afternoon, indicated that she was uninformed of the increase, adding “…but I wouldn’t be okay with that”.
Meanwhile, some parents who were made aware of the fee increase were also not in agreement with it.
A concerned parent explained that he was given a notice a few days ago that the fees were to be increased by 33 per cent and 25 per cent respectively for nursery and primary levels.
As such, he said he would appreciate some explanation so as to justify the magnitude by which these increases were necessary, referring to it as “bewildering” and questioned the possibilities of further increases in the future.
Since the school’s financial performance is also unknown, given its status in the law books, the disturbed parent also related that he could not determine whether or not the institution needed this increase in revenue in order to prevent it from going under. When looked at from an economic standpoint, the size of the increase cannot be justified.
Furthermore, the timing of the increase was rather alarming, given the fact that the current Government of Guyana had rescinded the Value Added Tax (VAT) of 14 per cent on school fees, after an outcry from affected parents.
When Guyana Times tried to contact the head teacher and owner of Mae’s Schools to justify why the increase was necessary, she was unavailable to give a comment and indicated that the publication will be contacted to address this issue. However, this was not done.
Meanwhile, parents who are bothered about the sudden increase in rates are calling for some clarifications on their concerns.