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School head says financial difficulties have delayed repayment of tuition fees to former student

by Anesta Henry
7 min read
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The principal of the Barbados Cosmetology School Pearl Francis, has broken her silence about a battle between her school and former student Sherline Gabriel and wants Barbadians to know that she is not a fraud.

She says all the negative publicity has taken a toll on her personal life and has been affecting the progress of the school since Gabriel spoke out about not receiving the court-ordered refund of her $2800 which she initially paid to enrol in a course of study at the school.

Last Friday, Barbados TODAY carried Gabriel’s account of the story which detailed that ten months after the court ruled that Francis must refund her the fees, not a cent had been paid in.

Francis, who said she would not comment on the ordered refund since it is still before the court, agreed that she would pay the St Lucia national who stopped attending the school when she found out that it was not accredited. The court asked that the student be repaid in monthly installments, starting November 2019 and ending January 2020.

But Francis, who said Gabriel only paid BDS$2 400, out of the BDS$3 400 course fee, insisted that Gabriel would be refunded, but noted that financial difficulties had stalled the process.

“I am not a fraud. I did not con Ms Gabriel. She is making the public believe that I fraud her of her money. And I mean I have persons from all over calling me so you know this thing has gone worldwide. And every time I try to uplift myself, whether I post something about the school, or she gets wind of me doing something she is ready to tear it down. I am a little confused as to why she is behind me this way and trying to give the school such a bad name when Sherline knows that if I wanted to rob her I wouldn’t have guided her in the right direction.

“There are many people out there offering courses in nails, hair, and basically they are not registered or accredited. As far as I read on the Accreditation Council website there are just three schools that are accredited, so I am like why is she singling me out? I have been tolerant with her, even when she came and we had an issue with her and I found out that Ms Gabriel was also pregnant and I said okay we will work to suit. So I am surprised that she is doing all of this,” Francis said.

Francis mentioned that while Gabriel has led the public to believe that she came to Barbados on a student visa to pursue studies at the cosmetology school, she believed that it should be noted that Gabriel was actually already living and working at a bakery in Barbados when she visited the school sometime during the summer of 2018, inquiring about enrolling in the programme.

The principal said she advised Gabriel, who she suggested had already attended another cosmetology school, that she would need to apply to the Immigration Department for a student visa in order to qualify to attend the school and she even provided the former student with the necessary documents to take to immigration.

“If I wanted to fraud Sherline I would not have guided Sherline in the right direction seeing that she was not a Barbadian. As it relates to me trying to fraud her I don’t know where she got that from. She is of the belief that I cannot operate in Barbados and that I am operating a school that basically should not be operating and I don’t know where she got that from.

“As far as the accreditation of the school is concerned there is a difference between registration and accreditation and it seems John Public does not understand that. I can tell you right now that our school, the Barbados Cosmetology School is currently going through the registration process. John Public can call and ask to speak to anybody at accreditation and find out about registration,” she said.

She said even though Gabriel only paid the non refundable registration fee of $80 in July 2018, she was allowed to start school early September that same year even though she had not yet paid the deposit for her tuition fee because the student visa had not yet been processed.

Francis said when the student visa eventually came through later that same month she asked Gabriel to pay the deposit. She noted that Gabriel told her she did not have the money for the deposit at that time and was awaiting a cheque from the National Insurance Scheme (NIS). She said Gabriel was inconsistent in her payments.

The principal explained that Gabriel completed about one and a half semester at the school and then “things went downhill” in early 2019 when she took ill and experienced financial difficulties, leading to the landlord of the building where the school operated at that time changing the locks because the school had owed one month’s rent.

Francis said when the matter was resolved, the other students came to a mutual agreement with the school, but Gabriel asked to be refunded the tuition fees she had paid up to that time.

When asked why she took so long to tell her side of the story, Francis said she was trying to avoid coming to the media because she did not want to reveal what Gabriel has not yet said.

“There is so much more that the public mouth would just drop if I had to say more concerning the whole thing. I don’t want it to look like I am out to bash her,” she said.

When Barbados TODAY contacted Gabriel she said she has been coming to Barbados since 2011 and has never overstayed. She said she does not understand the need for Francis to bring her personal business into the matter.

Gabriel also noted that she had receipts in her possession to show that Francis owed her BDS 2 800 and not $2400.

“I don’t see why she has to bring up my personal business in the matter because I will not come and talk about Pearl’s personal business. My problem with her is regarding my money that I paid her for a business and she was unable to fulfill the service. The course was BDS$3 500 and in three months I had already paid this lady BDS$2 800 and then all of these things started happening with her and the school and the landlord locked down the place.

“And I am not the only person with an issue. There are other students who did not pursue the matter with Pearl because they did not want to go through that whole court process. I am very grateful for the scholarship from Career Development Institute because if I did not get it I would have had to pay more money to go to another school because I always wanted to do this course,” Gabriel said.

Gabriel also indicated that while she applied to another cosmetology school in 2017 she did not attend because of logistical issues.
(anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb)

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