Church primary schools in Lakes State will abide by the State Education Ministry’s decision to charge 25 Sudanese Pounds per pupil as annual registration fee.
The decision was taken at a meeting involving Bishop Caesar Mazzolari of Rumbek, the Director General in Lakes State Ministry of Education, Kongor Deng Kongor, and the Education Field Coordinator for Rumbek Diocese, Robinson Odong Wani.Mr. Odong told Good News Radio after the meeting that his office thought that the State registration fee notice did not included Church schools.
He clarified that it was decided in the meeting that the Church schools retained the collected registration fees for their annual expenses.
Mr. Odong said that the Comboni Schools, as the Church schools are known in Rumbek Diocese, will continue to charge fees for other specific expenses, including firewood and the school uniforms.
He added that the Catholic schools have huge monthly expenses including full salaries and incentives for teachers, salaries for subordinate staff, uniforms, firewood and general maintenance.
The state promised to pay the teachers’ salaries to ease the financial burden.
Administrators of the Comboni Primary Schools are expected to submit periodically a financial report to the Ministry of Education, detailing the use of the registration fees collected from the pupils.
The Government of Lakes State pays each primary school teacher an average of 280 Sudanese Pounds per month.
The salary is very small and many teachers are quitting the profession in search for greener pastures.