Schools face fee fall as parents feel the pinch

Former Model C schools may be forced to cut down on “nice to have” items because school fee exemptions totalling R5.9bn are projected to be granted to cash-strapped parents this year.

Fee rebates of about R5.1bn were awarded to pupils attending SA’s 2,718 fee-paying schools last year, while an additional R4.7bn was owed by parents who did not apply for the concession.

This is according to Hennie van den Berg, whose company Eduspec Solutions specialises in assisting schools administer the fee exemptions process and manage debt.

He said 8,900 applications for fee exemptions worth R196m had been received since January at just 80, or 2.9%, of the fee-paying schools that are among his clients.

Willie Schoeman, Limpopo representative of the South African Teachers’ Union, said a random survey of 10 schools revealed that the total number of fee exemptions granted so far this year had jumped to 1,566 from 1,380 last year, which translated to R37.8m in lost revenue.

While schools are obliged by law to grant fee exemptions, Princess Primary in Johannesburg stated in its resolutions for its 2019 annual general meeting (AGM) that “parents who cannot afford school fees are encouraged to consider removing their children and sending them to no-fee paying schools”.

It also said: “To all parents who are not willing to pay fees, no one should live a lavish life at the expense of others. Parents exempted from paying fees are encouraged to assist the school with painting and other maintenance.”

Governing bodies use a formula to calculate whether battling parents qualify for a total, partial or conditional fee exemption.

Thomas Hlongwane, principal of Pretoria Central High, said the school received 180 applications so far, compared with 80 pupils who were granted fee concessions last year.

“A total of 100 learners were budgeted for this year and the governing body is still in the process of adjudicating applications.”

Benoni High in Ekurhuleni, where the annual fee is R28,000, has received 222 applications so far this year totalling R5.9m, compared with 247 fee exemptions awarded last year worth R5.2m.

Mark Smith, principal of Westerford High in Cape Town, said 11% of parents had applied for fee exemptions up to the end of last month and that R3.6m was budgeted for exemptions, compared with R3.4m last year.

“The 2022 budget is very much ‘needsdriven’ rather than ‘nice to have’. Last year we didn’t have elaborate trips and we kept staff expenses down as much as possible.”

Shaun Simpson, headmaster of Rondebosch Boys, said that towards the end of last year the number of applicants grew substantially. “There is little reason to believe that the same may not happen over the course of this year.”

Doug Prior, principal of Stirling High in East London, said 11.5% of school fees last year went to fee exemptions and they expected a similar percentage this year.

“About 15% of the budget has been earmarked for fee exemptions.”

Van den Berg said the 80 Eduspec client schools granted R151.2m in fee exemptions last year, an average of almost R1.9m per school.

“This will give you an indication that about R5.1bn in exemptions was granted in 2021. Our conservative estimate is that over 12,000 fee exemptions will be granted by the 80 schools this year compared to 10,811 last year.”

He said R90m in outstanding fees for last year was owed by 52 of the 80 schools participating in the debt management system.

“Schools are asked for fee exemptions because single parents say they don’t have contact with the other parent and also because of unemployment and low salaries.”

But Van den Berg said that some parents who could afford to pay also applied for fee relief. “We had a case of a parent earning R1.2m applying for fee exemptions for his two children. It was not a high-end school and he was paying R2,500 a month for both of them but he said he couldn’t afford the fee. His application was rejected.”

Waldo Marcus from TPN Credit Bureau said they were seeing “a deterioration in the education sector’s ability to collect fees”.

“Both private and public schools are burdened with high levels of bad debt and the increased demand on consumers’ wallets together with high levels of unemployment will further stretch the education sector during the coming years.”