St Mary’s Secondary School sets project fee at K10,000 for each pupil | WestMac Media

By Staff Reporter, Lusaka 

St Mary’s Secondary School has set project fee at K10,000 for each pupil. 

And school management says the funds raised from the project fees will go towards the construction of the over K7 million two story classroom block at the school. 

However, some enraged parents and guardians have bitterly complained about the high fees being charged at St Mary’s with a new Project Fee set at K10,000 for each pupil. 

They complained that demanding K10,000 for each pupil on top of the other fees will disadvantage a lot of pupils. 

They also accused the school management of departing from the focus of the Catholic Church who are owners of the school on poor people. 

Meanwhile, the controversial payment of K10,000 project fee per pupil at St Mary’s Secondary School in Lusaka was approved by the Government through the Ministry of Education, it has been established.  

The school management held a meeting today with officers from the Ministry of General Education and the Parent Teaches Committee after which a press briefing was held where it was said that the school should find a flexible payment system for the project fund. 

Ministry of General Education Spokesperson Nondo Chilonga clarified that her Ministry was consulted by the school authorities before implementing the project fees. 

Ms Chilongo said the school management has not done anything sinister or outside its mandate because procedure was followed. 

She said the issue is a pure agreement between the school administration and parents. 

And during the same news conference this morning, St Mary’s Parents Teachers Committee clarified that pupils who fail to pay the project fee will not be sent away. 

Committee Chairperson Mabvusu Sinda dispelled reports that the school has started turning away some pupils for failure to pay fees. 

Mr Sinda said no pupil was turned away for not paying the K10,000 project fee being demanded from Grades 8 and 10. 

He explained that the once off payment being implemented among pupils will ensure that the K4 million outstanding balance for the completion of the project is raised.