Education: Regulate the ‘Students’ Fee’ Definitely
This year, primary and secondary schools have continued with the malpractice of conditioning student enrollment and issuing of education related documents with (non-)payment of the so-called ‘students’ fee’. This is a recurring issue still with no systemic solution and no prospects of resolution yet.
Attending schools within the state education system in Serbia is free of charge. However, there is a general informal consensus that parents would contribute a certain amount towards some of the costs voluntarily. Unfortunately, due to rising poverty, more and more parents are not in a position to contribute even this minimum. Some of these parents addressed the Provincial Ombudsman claiming that their children are facing unequal treatment as a result of it, esp. concerning their enrollment.
The Provincial Ombudsman would hereby like to draw public attention to the fact that an explication request asking for their position concerning the parents’ claims mentioned above was sent to all the sub-regional Education Management Authorities (EMA) in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina back in 2013.
The EMAs claimed all relevant school authorities had been informed that conditioning children’s enrollment by asking for the so-called student fee was contrary to the regulations in force. Nevertheless, some schools have still continued to exert indirect pressure on parents and charge this allegedly voluntary donation, though their number has been dropping every year. The Provincial Ombudsman holds that it would be best to regulate this particular issue formally, so the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development was sent an official suggestion to devise a rulebook which would regulate the parents’ voluntary contribution payment conditions and ways.
The Provincial Ombudsman would also like to point out that a couple of days ago the Ministry has issued a press release stating that schools must neither take money from parents for the purpose of their children’s enrollment, nor condition it, or any other formal act of the school, such as issuing documentation, with any kind of financial compensation. The Ministry also stated that the decision on voluntary parents’ contributions cannot be made until September, aka until the schools have constituted their Parents’ Councils. The Education Law, however, does not prevent parents from giving donations to schools for the purpose of improving the educational standards in them, but such contributions must not be extorted. Parents’ councils have the right to decide on asking for voluntary parents’ payments to schools, but it must not be binding and its voluntary nature must be clearly stated.
The Provincial Ombudsman holds it is high time to end this practice of ignoring the warnings of the relevant Ministry and other authorities in primary and secondary schools. Resolution of this issue crucial to pupils’, students’ and parents’ welfare requires a serious approach. It also requires devising a common rulebook for schools, as well as a more efficient and effective operation of the relevant inspection authorities.