More than 13, 000 primary and secondary schools nationwide will soon receive Term 1 of the Government Tuition Fee Subsidy (GTFS) payment after Prime Minister James Marape presented a dummy cheque of K213.4 million to the Education Department. The Minister for Education, Jimmy Uguro, has thanked the Marape/Rosso Government for releasing very early the amount of K213.4 million on Tuesday 9th January to cover Term 1 of this year. “On behalf of 1.4 million students taught by 62,822 teachers in more than 13,000 schools nationwide, I thank the Prime Minister for prioritizing education by ensuring that the funds for Term 1 are released early to the Department,” said Mr Uguro. He is calling on the school administrations to use the funds wisely to prepare for the beginning of Term one. “I also call on the school administrations to acquit these monies and provide quarterly reports to the Department, through the Provincial Education Offices in order to receive tuition fee payments.” “Parents and the community have a right to ask School Boards to account and acquit these public funds every time and anytime.” Meanwhile, the Minister for Education has called on all the teachers nationwide to remain calm and neutral and let those managing the Alesco system to fix the tax cut issue and pay their dues next payday. “Our neutrality is very important to show our commitment to the education of our country’s future.”