Private school fees ‘not my field’

BASIC Education Minister Angie Motshekga has told parliamentarians there is nothing she can do about the high fees that are acting as a barrier to some pupils gaining access to private schools.

“We do not regulate fees of private education institutions,” she said. And she added: “As minister, I do not have the power via either the Schools Act or national education policy to regulate fees of independent schools.

“It is only in schools that are identified as qualifying for a subsidy that the department assists. With private schools, the state cannot. Generally, we do not get closer to private schools because we have no powers in law,” she said.

Motshekga said this during a question-and-answer session in the National Council of Provinces, when ANC MP Landulile Dlamini said higher fees could be a barrier to access – and could therefore be excluded from access to private schools.

“It is worrying. We know most parents who send kids to these schools are those who can afford to do so. But you also have a situation where private schools are mushrooming because they are not regulated,” Dlamini said.

“They make lots of money. It would help if they were regulated,” she added.

Motshekga said high fees at some public schools in urban areas is providing a major challenge – and the only way this will change is if policy is changed.

“The South African Schools Act gives parents powers to make a decision on language policy and fees. If the school governing body decides fees should be R50 000, the law allows them to implement this.

“We ask provinces to put a ceiling on what they can’t go beyond,” she said.

However, Motshekga said some of the public schools in affluent areas could not sustain themselves without high fees.

She also said if government were to provide subsidies for those wishing to go to private schools, it would mean having to reduce subsidies for poor schools. “We allocate more money to poor schools than affluent schools.”