The Min­istry of Ed­u­ca­tion (MOE) has told schools that, with im­me­di­ate ef­fect, they are to de­sist from ask­ing for con­tri­bu­tions from par­ents dur­ing the reg­is­tra­tion of new stu­dents.

The min­istry is­sued a state­ment Fri­day evening say­ing prin­ci­pals of gov­ern­ment and gov­ern­ment-as­sist­ed Ear­ly Child­hood Care and Ed­u­ca­tion (EC­CE) Cen­tres, pri­ma­ry and sec­ondary schools have been in­formed that they are to de­sist from the prac­tice.

"While there are no reg­is­tra­tion fees as­so­ci­at­ed with pub­lic EC­CE, Pri­ma­ry or Sec­ondary Schools, a prac­tice has de­vel­oped, over many years, of ask­ing par­ents to do­nate or con­tribute to the school at reg­is­tra­tion. Though the Min­istry of Ed­u­ca­tion is ful­ly cog­nisant of the fact that par­ent con­tri­bu­tions to school ini­tia­tives and projects are help­ful, re­quest­ing do­na­tions or con­tri­bu­tions dur­ing the reg­is­tra­tion pe­ri­od has had, over time, the ef­fect of mak­ing what should be vol­un­tary, seem manda­to­ry. This per­cep­tion ef­fec­tive­ly nul­li­fies the pol­i­cy of the Gov­ern­ment of Trinidad and To­ba­go, which is to of­fer free ed­u­ca­tion to all stu­dents reg­is­tered at pub­lic EC­CE, Pri­ma­ry and Sec­ondary Schools," the min­istry said.

The min­istry's state­ment added that due to the anx­i­ety ex­pe­ri­enced by par­ents, and the an­nu­al con­cern to the na­tion­al pop­u­la­tion that this prac­tice has caused, prin­ci­pals have been ad­vised that these two process­es are to be delinked with im­me­di­ate ef­fect.

"As such, no school con­tri­bu­tion is to be re­quest­ed of par­ents at the reg­is­tra­tion of new stu­dent co­horts in Gov­ern­ment or Gov­ern­ment-as­sist­ed EC­CE, Pri­ma­ry and Sec­ondary schools," the state­ment said.

It said this was re­it­er­at­ed to prin­ci­pals by the Chief Ed­u­ca­tion Of­fi­cer of the Min­istry of Ed­u­ca­tion, on Fri­day via cir­cu­lar mem­o­ran­dum.

It not­ed that out­side of the reg­is­tra­tion pe­ri­od, prin­ci­pals may, from time to time, re­quest of par­ents vol­un­tary con­tri­bu­tions for school ini­tia­tives. "Par­ents that can re­spond ful­ly or par­tial­ly to these calls for sup­port are en­cour­aged to do so, how­ev­er, prin­ci­pals are guid­ed that no stu­dent or par­ent is to be dis­crim­i­nat­ed against based on their abil­i­ty to re­spond to such re­quests," the state­ment said.

Some schools have re­quest­ed as much as $3,000 from par­ents who are reg­is­ter­ing their chil­dren for sec­ondary school class­es this year.