Parents scammed; claim ‘they paid’ for placement at TCI Public Schools

Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer 

#TurksandCaicos, September 29, 2023 – A case of fraud is being alleged by some Turks and Caicos parents after they were reportedly bought into a payment scheme to get their children into public high schools.

Parents turned up at the Education Department in a state of distress, to complain about what they described as the loss of hundreds of dollars in some cases, to unscrupulous alleged employees at the Department. We are told the complainants are from the Haitian community.

Significant cash was allegedly paid over to individuals who promised their children’s names would be included on the list for public high schools. But parents say that after shopping for uniforms and other school items and turning up at said institutions on September morning, their children were turned away as they were not officially registered. 

The individuals who reportedly collected these sums were not named by the parents.

The Turks and Caicos has a recurring issue regarding space for high school students. Year after year parents struggle to get their children into school; some have to be shunted off to costly private schools on government subsidies to bridge the gap. The issue has birthed additional schools and expansions but even those measures have not completely erased the problem.

The breakdown in the placement system also facilitates desperate underhanded schemes, like the one allegedly taking place this year.

It raises the question of how the country plans to handle the anticipated ‘boom’ in the population, to come from new laws inviting third generation islanders into the country.

At the beginning of the school year, at least 26 students were waiting to hear where they would spend their high school tenure, according to Edgar Howel, Director of Education.

Upon receipt of the information Magnetic Media reached out to Rachel Taylor, Minister of Education, to find out if the ministry was aware of the issue and how many students were still without proper placements.  We also wanted to know what the ministry planned to do to make the placement process more seamless, so residents would not feel pressure to resort to scams.

There has been no response.

The Royal TCI Police has also not replied to our queries on what appears to be a matter of corruption.