Many parents across the country are struggling to pay for school fees, and hikes in prices are showing no sign of slowing, says Paul Esterhuizen, CEO of School-Days.<\/p>\n
According to the CEO, the cost of education at both government and private schools in the country is rising, with fee hikes in 2023 ranging between 4% and 6%.<\/p>\n
He added that education inflation is expected to persist and surpass the Consumer Price Index (CPI) by 3%<\/strong> – approximately 10% in March 2023 – resulting in rising expenses for parents already struggling with the cost of living.<\/p>\n On top of those, education costs are projected to surpass salary inflation, making it even more difficult for parents to afford education for their children, said Esterhuizen.<\/p>\n Financial services firm TPN Credit Bureau reported that by the end of 2022, more than 40% of school fee accounts were in arrears.<\/p>\n TPN further reported that 25% of parents did not make any sort of payment at all towards outstanding school fees.<\/p>\n School fees are, however, not the only expense for parents – necessities like uniforms, books, sports equipment and school trips all add to the monthly bill.<\/p>\n Households across the country are already cash-strapped and are struggling to deal with ever-increasing cost of living due to inflation.<\/p>\n While the South African Reserve Bank been hiking interest rates to curb rampant inflation, its efforts have so far fallen a bit flat, with inflation sticking outside the target range of 3%-6%, largely driven up by higher food prices.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the resultant impact of the rate hikes has been a spike in the cost of debt, with many households now struggling to make payments on their bonds and other loans.<\/p>\n With rising school costs piling on to pressures,\u00a0Esterhuizen warned that the failure to pay school fees also has implications for a person’s credit score, which adds even more to the cost of borrowing.<\/p>\n Worse still, it also has the potential to impact their child’s education.<\/p>\n “Ashleigh Laurent, legal counsel at TPN, revealed that private school parents who are in default are sent a letter of demand and then given 20 business days to settle the outstanding balance,” he said.<\/p>\n The school can then decide to either exclude a learner if a parent still fails to pay after an extensive notice period passes.<\/p>\n For non-paying parents with children at government schools, they are provided with a little more protection, said Esterhuizen.<\/p>\n Public schools are required to assess whether parents are eligible for full, partial, or conditional exemption from fees before taking action against non-payment.<\/p>\n Additionally, public schools must inform parents in writing if they have not applied for an exemption. If payment is not received, a letter of demand may be sent to parents with a three-month payment deadline from the date of receipt of the letter.<\/p>\n
\n