Councillor calls on school donations to be examined

A SOUTHSIDE
councillor believes that requests by some schools for parents to make voluntary
contributions should be examined.

According to
Cllr Victor Boyhan (Ind), parents of students attending the schools can often
feel under pressure when asked to contribute.

He was recently
contacted by a southside woman who had received a letter from a school where
her child is a student asking for a voluntary contribution.

“This woman received
a letter from the school asking her to come up with a voluntary contribution,

?
Cllr Boyhan said.

“She felt pressurised to come up with the money.

“Last September
I also received a large volume of representations from parents of children from
both primary and secondary schools who also felt under similar pressure to come
up with these so called ‘voluntary’ financial contributions.

“Some of the
letters I read had the tone of a letter from a debt-collector.

“This type of
letter is heavy-handed and to my mind can be intimidating,

? he added.

“I am
appalled by any compulsory overtones. No school has the right to demand that a
parent or guardian write in and explain their family’s financial circumstances.

“A protocol
should be established for all schools to ensure confidentiality for a parent or
guardian unable to make a financial contribution.

?