It has been estimated that on this basis the new fees would be $3,720 for secondary schools and $2, 580 for primary schools. It might also be necessary to make some adjustments to the Code of Aid to meet the Director of Audit's criticism referred to in paragraph 6 above. If the discrepancy of $1,200 were to be eliminated, the fee for the secondary schools would have to be approximately $4, 900 per annum. An increase of a similar order would be necessary for the primary school fee.
19
On the basis of the new arrangements proposed in this memorandum the annual fees for 1979-80 have been estimated at about $5,000 for secondary schools and $3,400 for primary schools.
20
These new fees represent increases of 64.5% and 78.9% respectively; the smaller increase in the secondary fees is the result of the abolition of fees for junior secondary education in the Chinese and Anglo-Chinese sector. There will no doubt be strong opposition from parents and employers (who meet much of the cost through education allowances), particularly since there will be no immediate improvement in standards. It will be necessary to explain carefully that even without the introduction of the new arrangements fees would have to rise to similar levels, partly because of cost increases, and partly because of the need to conform more strictly to the principles of parity of subsidy.
Local Education Allowances
21
Among the employers affected by the increases in fees will be the Government which pays Local Education Allowances (LEA) to civil servants with children in English speaking schools. In order to reflect the increase in fees now proposed an ad hoc increase in the allowance will be necessary at the time the new fees are introduced in September 1979. In the absence of a satisfactory formula for the determination of LEA this increase will bear some relationship to civil service pay increases over the triennium ending July 1979, Subsequently, it will be necessary to devise an appropriate formula for determining the level of allowances whenever fees are increased thereafter.
C.S. 166
CONFIDENTIAL # Z