Dear Editor,
The recent introduction of the 14 per cent VAT on education and educational materials is creating extreme adversity on me. I am a student, studying to fulfill my lifelong ambition to educate myself. I have taken a loan at a bank to pay for my courses, and now I have to find 14 per cent more than I catered for.
This extra money will have to come out of my salary – which, as it is, barely does for me and my family for a month. This only serves to create an extra burden on me. The result of this VAT on education is that I may have to drop out of school, as I cannot afford to pay the extra money nor can I find an extra job to earn the money needed to pay the VAT.
This is certainly not the “Good Life” that this Government has promised. In fact, I am now worse than before, as I am no longer in a position to gain a promotion at work, and am unable to earn the extra money that the VAT demands.
Many students have already stopped coming to classes. They have dropped out of school as they cannot afford to pay the VAT.
This VAT is supposed to earn some 0,000,000 from the tuition fees that are paid to private schools; however, at the rate that students are leaving the private schools, the earnings from the VAT on education and educational materials will result in much less than expected earnings. It will also result in a less educated nation. Many of these students who are affected by the VAT on education will be voting for the first time in the 2020 elections, and they will surely remember you and your administration as being responsible for shattering their dreams of having a higher education and any chance of promotion at their jobs.
This Government says it will review the VAT on education in 2018, but by then it will be too late for me and many like me. The VAT on education needs to be removed now. Any tax on education is disgraceful and sends a message that the Government is not interested in having an educated nation. There is a saying: “While the grass is growing, the horse is starving”. This is what will be happening if the VAT is not removed before 2018. Please remove the VAT on education and educational materials now.
Yours sincerely,
Jonathan Yearwood
Struggling private
school student
