Transparency Vanuatu has released a report which shows some primary school children are being deprived of a free education, and are missing out on school as a result.
It's education report analyses the effectiveness of the Primary Education School Fee Grant Policy in Vanuatu from 2010 - 2012, and questions whether primary education in Vanuatu is free.
The policy is a joint initiative between AusAid, the New Zealand aid programme and the Vanuatu government, to provide subsidies for primary school fees.
A project advisor for Transparency Vanuatu's education programme, Francis Bryard, says of the 41 schools surveyed, more than half are still charging fees or asking parents for a contribution, and this impacts directly on school attendance.
"Because in some situations when the school is asking, for example 7 thousand vatu for one child, it's quite a lot of money. So sometimes the parents will not send the kids. In some situations that I highlighted in the report, where parents who haven't been able to pay the fee, they are asked not to send their kids to school. So it has an impact."
Francis Bryard says it's clear that both parents and schools feel confused about what they should and shouldn't pay.