School costs keep growing
For a child born today, the cost of 13 years of ‘‘free’’ schooling has risen to more than $38,000, up 15 per cent on 10 years ago.
Shoes, stationery, uniform, class trips, textbooks, school donations, bus passes, and laptops – they all mount up as parents prepare to send their children back to school.
Research by ASG Education Programmes shows that, for a child born in 2017, 13 years of school will cost $38,362.
For parents considering private education, that bill is now $345,996 – or 48 per cent more than a decade ago – while integrated schools will cost $109,354 over 13 years.
Porirua mother-of-four Dinah Ostler-Malaulau said her family was likely to spend hundreds of dollars to get her year 12 daughter Tisa set up for the school year. ‘‘It’s expensive, really expensive.’’
On top of the standard stationery requirements, the 16-year-old Tawa College student needed a graphics calculator and art supplies. Fees for sport and school trips would add to that bill. The college also asks for a voluntary donation of about $200.
Ostler-Malaulau recently finished working as a teacher at Porirua College, a decile 1 school, where she saw how stressful the start of the school year could be for families. ‘‘Some parents cannot cope, they cannot afford the startup for the year.’’
In class, she often found herself handing out exercise books and pens for kids who didn’t have any.
She worried that, as more schools implemented bring-yourown-device (BYOD) policies, kids whose parents could not afford a laptop or tablet would simply miss out, creating further inequality in the education system.
In Christchurch, Sarah May Pope has traded in the dream of home ownership to allow herself choice in her sons’ education.
Although not opposed to public schooling, she wanted the financial freedom to choose between public and private for Nico, 9, and Isaac, 6.
So she decided savings were more important than four walls, overseas travel or other luxuries.
‘‘The idea of putting money away gradually just made so much sense to us. We want to be able to say ‘yes’ to as many extracurricular things as possible. We’re aware as the kids get older, the cost increases.’’
Labour’s education spokesman, Chris Hipkins, said the Government clearly was not living up to its promise of a free education for all. ‘‘Government funding simply hasn’t been keeping up with the cost of educating kids. If they don’t get the money from government, schools have to look elsewhere, and parents are the ones most likely to end up footing the bill.’’
Schools were in a tough position, because parents had high expectations, Secondary Principals’ Association president Sandy Pasley said. They could not provide the best opportunities without parents helping out through donations or other costs.
Most schools had a secondhand uniform shop, providing cheaper options for those who needed it.
When it came to stationery, Pasley said: ‘‘No school will see a student go without stationery. Schools encourage families to let them know if they need help.’’
Education Minister Hekia Parata acknowledged it was an expensive time for families preparing for another school year. She advised parents worrying about the costs of uniforms, stationery or other equipment to talk to schools, who could offer support and put them in touch with organisations that could provide assistance.