A recent survey conducted by TPN Credit Bureau shows that 25% of parents did not make any payment towards their children's school fees last year. The data gathered from the credit bureau includes private schools and government schools where fees are charged.
The Bureau's Head of Marketing, Waldo Marcus says the trend emerging is concerning, as many parents are not making any school fees payments. This comes as the number of parents who are making school fee payments deteriorates
The bureau found that only 62,57% of parents were in good standing at the end of 2022. This was a decrease from the previous year of around 63,75%. While these numbers are declining, a worrying finding showed that 1 out of every 4 parents did not make any sort of payment towards school fees.
Marcus explained that the late payment of school fees places an additional strain on a school's cashflow and impacts their ability to meet their financial obligations.
The gap created by unpaid school fees needs to be filled with other sources of income. Schools indicated that they are plugging the gap through fundraising and government grants. Private schools listed donations as their third most important source of revenue.
The cost of private education is also having an impact on enrollment figures at private schools. The survey from TPN Burau found that 40% of private schools reported that they have fewer learners than they had the previous year.
South African legislation stipulates that learners may not be deprived of their right to participate in all aspects of the programme of a public school despite the non-payment of school fees and may not be victimised in any manner.
The South African Schools Act states that learners may not be suspended from classes, face verbal or non-verbal abuse, be denied access to cultural, sporting or school activities of the school or be prevented from access to the school’s nutrition] programme based on the non-payment of school fees.
However, parents who do not pay school fees could face legal action from the school. Before this legal action is exercised, the school must make an effort to communicate with parents regarding the non-payment of fees.
