Members of the Student Council of the School of the Nations, yesterday delivered to various government ministries a petition signed by over 14,000 Guyanese calling for the removal of Value Added Tax (VAT) on private education.
Private education became subject to VAT on February 1st as a measure of the 2017 national budget.
The petition, titled “Education is a Necessity, Let it be VAT free,” was simultaneously delivered to the Ministry of the Presidency, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education Dr Rupert Roopnaraine.
Member of the Council Richard Bhainie, 17, speaking with Stabroek News outside the Ministry of the Presidency said that while the petition had 13,800 signatures in the morning, by 3 pm that number had risen to over 14,000.
Asked to explain why the students selected the three ministries, Bhainie explained that Ministry of the Presidency was selected because President David Granger has been very vocal about his passion for education, the Ministry of Finance was targeted since the new policy is financial in nature and the Ministry of Education because it is an issue which affects the delivery of education.
“We are hoping that the support we have raised will encourage them to review the policy which can have a seriously negative impact on Guyanese student,” Bhainie said.
He explained that one such impact is hitting close to home as several of his classmates having already paid for year one of their two-year programme have indicated that they will not be returning for year two.
“I’m part of the 6th Form College so I cannot speak to what is happening at the tertiary level among those studying the ABE programme.
We have finished paying for year one, AS [Advanced Subsidiary] so this new policy will not affect that, it will affect the AL [Advanced Level] we are set to begin next year. Several persons have said that with this increase they will not be able to return,” he stressed adding that he has been informed that several scholarships will be revoked.
While the School of the Nations has been at the forefront of the initiative, Bhainie maintained that the signatures did not come only from those associated with that school.
“The signatures are from the general public. Everyone who signed was over 16 so the students were mostly from fifth form and up. They were from both the public and private school systems. We had schools like Apex Academy, Mae’s, Chase and the Hindu College participating as well as parents in Guyana and the diaspora,” he noted.
He added that the hope of the students is that government will understand that it is not necessary to tax private education.
