Cape Town - The Western Cape Education Department has had to provide R44 million to 786 schools for parents who could not afford to pay school fees this year.
Education spokeswoman Jessica Shelver said pupils who had qualified for an exemption had increased from 70 153 in 2011 to 105 124 last year.
On Thursday the Cape Times reported that Mandalay Primary School principal Eddie Swarts had resorted to “naming and shaming” 41 Grade 7 pupils who had outstanding school fees by publishing and distributing their names in a school newsletter to 1 211 pupils at the school. It sparked an outcry from parents, some threatening legal action.
Shelver said the Education Department was investigating.
Education analyst Graeme Bloch anticipated more schools were resorting to naming and shaming parents.
“Hundreds of schools are in financial trouble. Principals spend more time trying to collect school fees than they do trying to run the school. The situation in dire,” Bloch said.
Sun Valley Primary School principal Gavin Keller said he and the governing body would meet 220 parents who were more than R6 000 in arrears to resolve payment plans last night.
The governing body wrote to parents last week imploring them to pay outstanding fees, or the school near Fish Hoek would retrench staff or increase school fees substantially.
“By the end of September we only had 62 percent of our school fees paid, compared to 90 percent the same time last year. If I have a drop in 30 percent of my income, that means that I can’t pay 30 percent of my bills,” Keller said.
While he sympathised with Swarts, he did not condone victimising the pupils.
President of the National Professional Teachers Organisation of SA, Basil Manuel said there had been a growing trend among teachers who feared losing their jobs as a result of non-payment by parents.
“The last thing schools want to do is retrench staff. That would lead to bigger class sizes, which comes with its own set of challenges. Schools have fallen into a pattern of only trying to survive from month to month,” Manuel said.
Shelver said schools could take legal action against parents who owed fees, and who do not qualify for exemption or partial exemption.
“Different schools have different methods to recover school fees from parents who do not pay school fees. This is an authority of the governing body.
“However, learners should not be victimised in any way if their parents have failed to pay school fees,” Shelver said.
Cape Times