IN complete condemnation of the imposition of Value Added Tax (VAT) on education, the management of the School of the Nations has launched a petition, with the hope of having enough signatories to effect a change in the decision.The school’s director, Brian O’Toole during an interview with the Guyana Chronicle recently, indicated that the school received a letter from the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) stating that 14 percent VAT will now be charged on tuition fees for private institutions.

O’Toole believes the move by the government to impose VAT on education is an unjust one as many students are finding it difficult to pay the existing tuition fees. The addition of VAT, he believes, will prove detrimental to private institutions and those who benefit from education privately.

“There are more than 2,300 students from preschool to Sixth Form and others pursuing international diplomas, degrees and MBA from centres of excellence such as University of Cambridge, University of London, ABE and the Australian Institute of Business.

“Some of those students arrived at Nations in the latest RAV4s or BMWs. But others arrive on foot. Some represent some of the most affluent sectors of the Guyanese society,” said O’Toole.
And out of those, over 40 children at Nations are on full or partial scholarships or the 100 children from neighbouring Tiger Bay who, for the past five years, attend the school three afternoons per week for free classes in literacy, numeracy, the arts and music.

School of the Nations also offers a number of courses from the Association of Business Executives (ABE) from the United Kingdom.

“But to the 16-year-old school leavers who are part of the 800+ ABE cohort, some of whom pay the fees in GY$100 bills, this new imposition may simply mean they stop the course, stay home and lose hope and add to the growing numbers of the unemployed and unemployable,” bemoaned the School’s director.

As a result of the hardships he believes will befall students of private institutions, O’Toole is calling on the government to find alternative ways to raise revenue, noting that “a tax on education is surely not the path to take in 2017.”