INLSA
KwaZulu-Natal Education MEC Senzo Mchunu
Parents with children at public schools will have to dig deep next year as school fees in the province’s top schools jump by between 7 percent and 10 percent.
Governing body associations have also warned that top public schools are under mounting pressure in the face of rising teacher salaries, municipal costs and diminished government subsidies.
KwaZulu-Natal Education MEC Senzo Mchunu told The Mercury yesterday that while the rights of governing bodies to set fees would not be interfered with, and that the standard of some of Durban’s top schools was “splendid”, he was receiving complaints about high fees and was “concerned”.
An “angry” Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, however, was recently quoted in City Press as saying that governing bodies were “privatising public education”.
The Federation of School Governing Bodies of SA has said fee-charging schools are as much subject to cost-of-living hikes as individual households.
Quintile five schools (the most affluent) receive R165 per pupil per year (80c a day) from the government (excluding government-appointed staff salaries).
“The balance of operational costs must be covered by the school,” the federation’s Paul Colditz said.
“When the new dispensation was introduced many schools did not know exactly what to budget for in an effort to keep school fees as low as possible, and started from a baseline that was too low. They are now constantly in catch-up mode – meaning their increase has to be above the CPI just to assist them in making ends meet,” Colditz said.
“Parents who are not able to afford the fees can either send their children to no-fee schools or are entitled to apply for total, partial or conditional exemption from paying school fees.”
The Governing Body Foundation’s Tim Gordon agreed that it was precisely because salaries, electricity, water, paper, textbooks and petrol had gone up that fees had, too.
“I have no wish to allocate blame, but I wonder if even 1 percent of businesses keep costs for the same-quality product or service the same for a full two years – which is what a school would be doing if it did not have an annual increase in any one year,” Gordon said.
Gordon said a medium to large school (no hostel) in an urban area spent R613 393 on electricity a year. Another, with a hostel of 100 boarders, forked out R124 000 for water and sewage in 2011.
All the schools The Mercury spoke to said 60 percent or more of their budgets went to paying teachers employed by their governing bodies.
Manor Gardens Primary expects to raise its fees of R14 700 by 7-8 percent for 2013.
More than half of its staff is appointed by governing bodies, according to body chairman Glen Robbins.
He said the “main driver of fee increases” was the wage settlements reached by government and teachers’ unions.
Penzance Primary, with 830 pupils, was likely to up its fees by 9.9 percent, to R15 500.
Headmaster Colin Madgin said it was significantly lower than certain schools in Durban North, with which his was on a par.
Eighteen percent of the budget is dedicated to fee exemptions.
At a 9.9 percent increase next year’s fees at Westville Boys’ High, with 1 300 pupils, are set at R31 100. Its financial pressures include maintenance – the cost of preparing its three cricket pitches was R30 000 a month, headmaster Trevor Hall said.
The government pays 44 of the school’s 79 teachers, and provides R213 345 a year in subsidies.
The 75 sports coaches, 15 office staff and 30 field maintenance and cleaning workers are paid by the governing body, which also funds building projects, security, insurance and the repairs and maintenance.
The current R32 000-a-year fees at Durban Preparatory High were to increase by 8.9 percent – the lowest hike in years, said headmaster Hank Pike.
While the governing body was mindful of parents’ bud-gets, parents also had “expectations” for “a unique and broad educational experience”.
Again, the biggest drain was salaries (70 percent of the budget).
Glenwood High is to hike its fees by 9 percent for next year.
This year’s fees were R26 670 for grades 9 to 12, and R28 170 for Grade 8.
R1m a year is spent on water and lights for the school and hostel. A 23 percent budget slice maintains the pool, eight sports fields, a synthetic hockey field and an artificial turf for practices.
Of 140 staffers, including teachers and cleaners, 60 are paid by the government (at R12m a year).
