School costs stress parents
Report finds concerns children may miss out as families struggle to keep up with bills
Increasing numbers of parents are worried they do not have enough money for their child’s education. The fears were revealed in a survey of parents by education savings provider ASG, which also found concerns about children not being able to cope with stress and negative situations, and concerns over screen time.
The Parents Report Card 2016 — the second such report by ASG — questioned 850 parents across New Zealand about their views of their child’s education.
It revealed increasing numbers are worried about the cost of their child’s education, including:
85 per cent wish they had more money to spend on their child’s education.
26 per cent of parents feel they must work two jobs (per household) to ensure a successful education for their child.
56 per cent admit they cannot afford after-school tuition if needed.
The figures are up from last year, when 83 per cent of parents said they would like more money for their child’s education, and 20 per cent said at least one parent worked two jobs to support their children’s learning.
The newest report revealed parents had concerns about a lack of resources at their child’s school and believed there was a link between resources and their child’s interest in a subject.
“One of the issues is unfortunately education is not getting any cheaper,” ASG chief executive John Velegrinis said.
“We know that over the last 10 years, education costs have risen in New Zealand by a factor of about 11⁄ times the average CPI [ consumer price index]. So relative to incomes, education costs are growing at a faster rate, and there’s no reason to suggest that that will abate.”
This was leading parents to feel stressed over their child’s education needs, he said, especially when added to the demands or pressures to participate in extracurricular activities.
Basic education costs could include a uniform, laptop or tablet, transport to school, he said, as well as costs related to extracurricular activities.
“Generally speaking [extracurricular activities] are not cheap, whether they’re music lessons or swimming or whatever the case might be. Parental budgets are starting to feel the stress,” he said.
Dr Sivanes Phillipson, from Monash University Faculty of Education, who co-authored the report, said parents needed to be realistic about the aspirations they had for their child to help deal with the cost.
“In many ways the point for parents to consider is they should prioritise what they think are important aspirations for their children, and those important aspirations are the ones they should budget [for], instead of trying to work two jobs and fund everything,” she said.
For example, she said if higher education was a priority aspiration for both parent and child, parents should “prioritise what can lead their children to the pathway of higher education”.
Education added to bills
Associate Professor Carol Mutch, head of school in Critical Studies in Education at the University of Auckland, said New Zealand now has “a ‘free education’ in inverted commas”.
Education expenses weren’t “hidden costs” as such, she said, as schools made it clear what they expected parents to pay for.
These included school uniforms, often a separate sports uniform, stationery, extracurricular activities, field trips, school camps, and competitions the school may participate in.
“I think what’s happened in New Zealand is that being a parent you’re not just caught up in wanting to get the best education for your children, but as we know a whole range of other costs are going up,” Mutch said. “Housing costs are going up, getting your children to school, those costs seem to be going up as well, and it just seems it’s harder to provide the basics, and everyone considers that a good education is one of those important basics, along with housing and food to put on the table.” Parents really had to “balance their budgets” these days. Labour’s education spokesman, Chris Hipkins, said the report’s findings were not “hugely surprising”. Schools were facing evertightening budgets and were “increasing costs to parents [to] make up the shortfall”, he said. Green Party education spokeswoman Catherine Delahunty
HTo watch a video interview go to nzherald.co.nz said a free education, a cornerstone of New Zealand society, was “becoming a memory when parents are feeling under so much pressure to supplement a public education”.
“More resources need to go into our public education system to support children getting the education as promised.”
More ‘holistic’ approach wanted
The report also highlighted concerns over a lack of holistic learning, concerns over the amount of time children spend in front of devices, and a lack of understanding among some teachers in how to deal with disruptive behaviour in class.
More than half (54 per cent) of parents said their child was not taught how to manage stress well at school, and 47 per cent said their child became angry when they felt they could not control things. More than half (55 per cent) believed their children spent too much time in front of screens; 48 per cent struggled to limit their child’s screen time.