OPINION: Private schools are misunderstood
Last week, Mwita Waitara, Deputy Minister of State in the President’s Office, Regional Administration and Local Government, gave a directive forbidding private schools from sending home or discontinuing students whose parents or guardians have failed to pay school fees.
Although the newspapers’ reports did not offer clarification, I presume the directive was to private primary schools, since primary education is universal and mandatory.
Waitara’s directive derives from the premise that no child should be denied primary education for financial reasons.
On the surface, the directive may seem consistent with Tanzania’s free and mandatory primary education policy. However, upon reflection, it is both vague and unfair to private schools.
The most important determinant of a nation’s economic growth and well-being is the nation’s human capital. Primary education is the foundation of that capital. It is for that reason primary education is mandatory.
While in all countries primary and secondary education is provided by the government through taxes, almost all countries also allow, and some even subsidize, private schools. In Tanzania in 2017, about 4 percent of almost 9 million students in primary schools were in private schools. About 18 percent of almost 2 million students in secondary schools were in private schools.
Like other private institutions that provide social services, private schools must be completely transparent about their tuition rates, payment methods, and penalties for late payments.
Those penalties may include a late payment fee, withholding some documents, and/or being dismissed from school. That was exactly what public schools did when parents were required to pay various fees.
When a parent or a guardian sends his or her child to a private school, there is a contractual agreement between the parent and the school, which could include dismissal of the student should the parent fail to pay school fees.
Nonetheless, it should be emphasized that when a school sends home or dismisses a student for financial reasons, it does so reluctantly. Typically, a school does that after having supported the parent as well as it could.
Waitara’s directive is actually not clear. Perhaps some clarification will follow. If a parent pays school fees for his or her child for the first semester of first grade and is unable or unwilling to pay for the reminder of the year, is the school then required to keep the student for the whole year? Until the student finishes elementary school?
Of course, Waitara’s main point, that no child should be denied primary education for financial reasons, must not be lost. However, the burden should be on the parents and guardians and not on private schools.
Parents and guardians have a legal and moral obligation to see that their children get primary school education, preferably uninterrupted.
As such, they should evaluate their financial situation carefully before sending their children to private schools.
When a child is dismissed from a private school, parents must enroll the child in public schools as soon as they realize that they can no longer afford private school.
It is no secret that, on average, private schools are better than public schools. Had that not been the case, we would consider all parents who send their children to private schools to be irrational.
As an example, in 2017, the student-teacher ratios were 50:1 and 19:1, in public primary schools and private primary schools, respectively.
In his press conference, Waitara also alluded that he wants to reopen the debate regarding price ceilings on private education.
However, price ceilings on private education would be counterproductive. A price ceiling is a maximum legal price for a service or a product set by the government.
It is usually set below the price that will clear the market. A price that is set below the equilibrium price creates a shortage, that is, a situation where quantity demanded exceeds quantity supplied.
This happens no matter what that product or service is, unless the government is willing and able to effectively subsidize producers.
By the way, in some countries, the government provides some basic education services, such as text books and public transportation, to all students regardless of whether they are in public or private schools.
Private schools must not be regarded with disdain – as if they simply want to take advantage of people for their own advantage and profit.
The government and private schools are education partners and must, therefore, work together, without intimidation, to discuss challenges and find solutions, collaboratively.
