Amid reports of an upwards of 40 per cent increase in tuition fees by privately run schools to meet the demand for an expected sharp rise in wages, president of the Jamaica Independent Schools Association (JISA), Pastor Wesley Boynes, says only a handful of private institutions have moved to increase their tuitions by as much.

In an interview with Our Today, the JISA president revealed that its own survey shows that only 32 per cent of private schools will raise their tuition fees between three to eight per cent, 25 per cent will raise their tuition between nine and 14 per cent, while 10 per cent will raise their school fees by 15 to 19 per cent and eight per cent will raise their tuition between 20 to 24 per cent.

“I did a survey among our school leaders, and 14 per cent of them are not going to adjust their school fees. The majority of private schools, they do a lot of subsidising. They do fundraisers. In fact, I have been involved in private school since 2010 as from the top leadership and just as a normal parent. And I know of only three schools in Jamaica, private schools, who charge the full fee to cover the operating cost,” Boynes underscored.

The JISA president said that the 40 per cent hike in private school fees is not representative of all private schools.

“Ninety-five per cent of our schools cater for normal children whose parents are taxi drivers and low-level civil service workers and carpenters. So, the press took the school fee information from these high-end schools and made it out as if it represents the rest of the private education sector in Jamaica. And that’s an unfortunate misrepresentation. We have inner-city prep schools, but the press didn’t reach there. Inside of Spanish Town, downtown Kingston, up in the hills of Region Two, which is St Mary, Portland, St Thomas, we have prep schools which charge $20,000 a month,”

PASTOR WESLEY BOYNES, PRESIDENT OF JAMAICA INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS ASSOCIATION

The reports of a sharp increase in tuition among private schools comes amid fears that the Government’s recent public-sector compensation review, which saw a major increase in the salaries for teachers in the public sector, will force administrators of private schools to also hike wages to prevent an exodus of teachers to the public school system.

“I think this year will be a challenge because a lot of the prep schools cannot compete with the salaries
which the government is planning to give to teachers who work in public schools. And the government
has a deficit of teachers to deal with. I wouldn’t be surprised. And I think a lot of us leaders are ready for
that. But the thing about it is our private schools keep producing,” he said.

With the start of another school year just around the corner, Boynes said that he is now awaiting data to confirm how the recent increase in tuition fees for some private schools will affect student enrolment in September.

“What a lot of school leaders have done this month, they have sent out a space retention form asking parents if they are bringing back their students. And we are waiting for that data to come in,” he said.

While acknowledging the possible challenges ahead, Boynes noted that private schools continue to produce great results by offering world-class education to students.

“Most parents that I know of want it best for their children. So the thing about it, I have encouraged our school leaders to keep the standards high. And one of the ways we are responding is by identifying to our staff members non-financial benefits that they have access to while they’re working at our school. So we may not be able to pay as high as the government is paying, but there are a lot of non-financial benefits,” he said.

Boynes further said: “I feel very confident, even though there may be challenges ahead but we will meet a challenge, and we will overcome. So, I am not terrified of what will be happening in September. I know it will be challenging, but we have been meeting with our school leaders and talking to them. We just had our back-to-school conference. We met for three days, and we really encourage the school leaders to be very creative and to respond in certain ways,” Boynes further noted.

This includes greater collaboration among private institutions, sharing resources and building partnerships with the Ministry of Education and Youth.

“We are now talking to the Ministry of Education and saying, let’s build a partnership. Both sectors need each other. The public schools have these strengths. The private schools have these strengths. Let’s work together. There are thousands of children who just cannot make it in the public school system. No matter how much millions of dollars the government pump in there, the public school environment just will not work for many, many Jamaican children and vice versa. So we have to find a way to come together,” Boynes stressed.

He noted that discussions with the education ministry are ongoing.