Dear Editor,
On February 23, we presented a petition − signed by more than 15,000 persons, representing more than two per cent of the population of Guyana − to the President and the Ministers of Education and Finance. Part of the petition included more than 1500 detailed comments from persons from all corners of Guyana and from more than 32 countries, decrying the imposition of the 14 per cent VAT on private education. The petition was spearheaded by a group of sixth formers at Nations.
The next day, I was met by an older, wiser head that said only “boots on the ground” would gain attention. I hoped he was wrong, but one month later, there was no response to the petition. Only when persons began to protest was there any response. The cynic was therefore correct, and the youthful hope that respect would be given to the petition was dashed, and only fuelled the sense of disillusionment on the part of so many youths that they do not have a voice.
The disillusionment was, however, temporarily lifted by the announcement, by a respected media voice, that the President had indeed heeded the petition and the VAT would be removed. This apparently misguided or “fake news” was corrected two days later.
There followed a series of articles by one or two Government spokespersons on the rationale for the VAT.
The main arguments appeared to be:
Only about 8 of the 58 private schools were fully tax compliant
Some schools were “charter schools” (but no explanation of what this meant was ever given)
Some schools paid no tax because they are “religious schools”
If you can afford private education, by definition you are wealthy and you can afford the 14 per cent increase
Private schools are making large profits, and should therefore pay the 14 per cent themselves
Parents have a choice – they can return to the free public education
Many of these points were rehashed at the forum on Friday, when Ministers Cathy Hughes, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, and Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo met with about 300 persons at the National Cultural Centre to examine the imposition of VAT on private education.
Some of the points raised to refute these points included:
* If there are private schools that are indeed not paying their taxes, expose them and make them pay the taxes that we all face. There needs to be a level playing field. There is no logic in saying that because some schools are delinquent in terms of paying tax, the ones that already pay in excess of 35 per cent tax should now attract a further 14 per cent tax.
* Publish the list of “charter schools” and “religious schools” and explain the loopholes they have been given not to pay tax, and let the public comment on the wisdom of these decisions
* Nations held a number of meetings with parents to gauge their feelings on this issue. At the end of one meeting of 35 parents, someone put up their hand and said: “I am part of the Government. When we discussed this issue, it was said that the people who attend your school are all rich and can easily afford the increase. Now that my child attends this school, I see that is not true, and that children in fact come from a wide variety of backgrounds.”
* There are more than 1200 students at the three centres in Guyana that offer the Association of Business Executives (ABE) programme. The great majority of these students are school-leavers from humble backgrounds. There is no comparable programme to the ABE programme in Guyana. The ABE programme is internationally accredited, accessible and affordable. Now, with the imposition of the VAT, already 12 per cent of the ABE students at Nations have dropped out, and will do nothing but swell the ranks of the unemployed. It should be noted that the private institutions in Guyana that offer the ABE course do so at a fraction of the cost charged for exactly the same programme in Trinidad.
Sincerely,
Dr Brian O’Toole
