…as protestors picket AFC Headquarters
…told VAT here to stay
The public education system is in a dire state and is being academically outperformed by private schools; hence, the need for those institutions.
This is according to educator Swami Aksharananda. He made the comment while at a protest against Value Added Tax (VAT) on education on Monday in front of the Alliance For Change (AFC) headquarters.
“There are many challenges in the public school system, everybody admits this. There is no one in this country who thinks that it is where it’s supposed to be…but as far as the public schools – if you have an objective analysis, we are in a dire state as far as public education is concerned and the ability to deliver education, it is very serious,” Swami Aksharananda told this publication. 
While addressing the media, he added that parents were choosing the private education system as opposed to the public education system mainly from a performance standpoint. He noted that private schools were most of the times outperforming the government schools in both the National Grade Six Assessment (NSGA) and the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations.
“If you look at the results of education in this country, for example the NGSA, all the top results come from private schools, which is an indication of [their better performance]. People are smart. People know where they get their results and they go there, and it is not only because people can afford, but people will make the additional sacrifice for what they consider a better value for their money,” the educator opined.
When asked about the suggestion of the institutions absorbing the VAT, Swami Aksharananda, who operates the Saraswati Vidya Niketan (SVN) – one of the country’s top performing secondary schools, explained that it was not legally possible for those institutions to do so. He added that by making that suggestion, there was now the idea of private schools making large profits and that was far from the truth.
In March, Finance Minister Winston Jordan said that VAT on private education was not a move to target the institutions, rather it was a move for the Government to broaden the country’s tax base, and help fund the country’s expenditure shortfall in the 2017 $250 billion budget.
A parent, Shamal Zalamuddin said he refused to pay VAT on education and noted that the tax imposition was not only on tuition fees, as it extended to all educational materials inclusive of pens, pencils and erasers. This, he notes, not only affects the private school students, but also those attending public schools as well.
“There is hardly any country in the world that pays VAT on education or health services or social services. My son goes to a private school, yes; I paid his fees today without paying any VAT. I am not going to pay the VAT and if they (the school) rebel, then I am prepared to take him out and I am prepared to home-school him,” Zalamuddin told reporters.
The protesters told the media that they chose to exercise their constitutional right in front of the AFC headquarters, since they were informed of an executive meeting at the office. They also noted that there were some members of the AFC who were sympathetic to their plight, so they were seeking an audience with them.
During the protest, AFC representatives from the office went out and engaged the protesters, informing them that they would have to be protesting for the next three terms. One representative said that the protesters would have to remain there since the VAT on education was there to stay. He added that although he was an AFC Youth Executive, he had protested against the parking meter project, but supported the imposition of VAT on education.
After failed attempts to contact AFC Leader and Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman, Guyana Times contacted the party’s former head, Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan, for an update on the party’s position on the tax imposition only to be told: “I don’t speak to the Guyana Times, y’all are asses.”
Parliamentary support
Meanwhile, the AFC will be put to the test when the parliamentary Opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) tables a motion to repeal the 14 per cent VAT on private education at the upcoming sitting of the National Assembly on May 8.
Expectations are high that the junior partner in the coalition APNU/AFC Administration would now support the motion, given its solidarity with stakeholders who have for weeks been calling on Government to remove the education tax.
Cabinet recently ruled that the VAT on private education would remain for the rest of the year, but it would be reviewed for the 2018 National Budget.
The AFC has signalled its intention to challenge Government’s collective decision and push for an earlier review.
