Students are thankful to the government for having an allocation for school fees, bus fares and free textbooks but some students attending the National Budget consultations have raised concern over the high cost of school accessories in Fiji and if government could put price control on school items.
Concerns have been raised on the increasing prices of school sandals, bags and other items.
Attorney General and Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says this is an unfortunate problem as most of the businesses in Fiji continue to steal using the system.
Sayed-Khaiyum says these businesses know that the parents and guardians have more money in their pockets due to the free fees scheme so they put up the prices of school items.
He adds that when you bring in price control, you have to involve the Fijian Commerce Commission, and they will have to look at the price margins.
Sayed-Khaiyum says that it’s very hard to monitor food items under price control and some remote shops do not follow the prices set.
Sayed-Khaiyum says he will discuss the issue with relevant stakeholders.
Some issues that have been raised during the budget consultations in Suva and Nausori are that some bus drivers are not accepting bus fare vouchers from students after 4.30pm and would not stop for them on the main road, why the Tertiary Loans and Scholarship Board is not accepting Year 12 students to study in university in the program, government to provide an allocation for lunches in schools to students and lack of resources in schools for students.
A request has also been made for the Ministry of Education to officially confirm the school start time at 8.45am and not 8am.
This issue has been raised in the past as many students find great difficulty in making it to school by 8am due to increased traffic and late school bus arrivals.
Sayed-Khaiyum says he has taken all points into consideration.
