Schools cover stationery costs, sports fees

Schools across the country are opting to cut out stationery costs, donations and sports fees for students to ease financial strain on families.

It comes as a Kidscan survey reveals many families are struggling with backto-school costs, with four siblings each choosing one day of the week to go to class as they shared one uniform.

For about five years, Palmerston North’s Ross Intermediate School has provided stationery to its students for free and removed costs for sports.

Principal Wayne Jenkins said the move was made to provide equal opportunities for every student.

But after crunching the numbers, he discovered the school was already spending the money it collected from parents on processing the payments, including postage and time spent on administration.

The school now budgeted about $50,000 per year to cover the costs for its 620 students – about $80 per student.

‘‘For some families whose kids are involved in a number of sports, they’ve got reduced costs of over $500 which means they can use those funds for other opportunities for their family.’’

An Auckland primary, Manurewa East School, has also announced it will be providing all of its students with free stationery this year. And in 2019, Rowandale Primary School in Manurewa said it would provide stationery.

New Zealand Education Institute president Liam Rutherford said there were many costs associated with a ‘‘supposedly free public education’’.

There was growing inequity in society and families were facing huge strains at back-to-school time, he said.