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Chapter 14 - School GovernmentSchool feesPublic schools are funded by the government and through school fees and/or school fundraising. Laws and regulations governing school fees are as follows:
The government pays most of the teachers’ salaries and bigger building costs, and makes some contribution, per learner, to pay for the equipment and running costs. In 2007, the average amount that government contributed per learner was R554, increasing to R581 per learner in 2008 and R605 per learner in 2009. Over and above the government’s contribution, parents of learners pay school fees that contribute to finance part of a school’s operating expenses. According to South African Schools Act (SASA), the SGB of a school must take all reasonable measures within its means to supplement the resources that are supplied by the government in order to improve the quality of education that is provided to all the learners at the school. ‘No fee’ and ‘Fee-charging’ schools According to government regulations, public schools in South Africa are now divided into ‘no-fee’ schools and ‘fee-charging” schools. This means that some schools may not charge the parents any fees and will be completely subsidized by the government. Schools are ranked in five categories (called quintiles) for government funding purposes, based on the degree of poverty of the communities they serve. The poorest schools fall into category one, and the wealthiest are in category five. Poorer schools will receive a larger contribution per learner from government while richer schools will get less according to the category they are in. For example, in 2007, the poorest schools in category one should receive a government contribution of R738 per learner while the wealthiest schools would receive R123 per learner. The category a school belongs to is decided by:
Provincial education departments use national statistics to rank schools from the poorest to the wealthiest. To summarise: according to the ‘no-fee’ policy, where schools fall into categories 1, 2, or even 3, they are supposed to become ‘no-fee’ schools which means that parents who send their children to these schools do not have to pay any fees, including registration or activity fees, because the government is paying the total cost of running the school. All other schools are ‘fee-charging’ schools. In some cases, the Minister of Education may decide that only learners up to a certain grade, for example, grade 9, will not have to pay school fees. This means that all learners from grades 10 to 12 would have to pay fees. Where a school is incorrectly categorized it can apply to the Provincial Department of Education (PDE) to be re-categorised. The Minister of Education is supposed to publish by the 30 September of each year, which schools have been declared ‘no-fee’ schools. To find out whether a school has been declared a ‘no-fee’ school or not, look up on the following website: www.SAGazettes.co.za or www.education.gov.za. Where schools are categorized as ‘fee-charging’, parents or caregivers can still apply for full or partial exemption from school fees. Exemption from school fees Government regulations specify the formula that must be used to calculate whether parents or caregivers qualify for a full or partial exemption. The formula takes into account the number of school-going children supported by a parent or caregiver and provides specific guidelines for calculating the amount of partial exemptions. In terms of these regulations, certain categories of children are automatically exempt from paying fees. These include Child Support Grant beneficiaries and children in foster care. In order to work out whether parents or caregivers qualify for a full or partial exemption, they will need the following information:
When applying for an exemption from school fees, the SGB will apply a certain formula. The formula is used to work out what proportion (or percentage) of the family income would be spent on school fees. If the school fees are 10% of the parent/caregiver’s total income, they will be entitled to a full exemption and will not have to pay school fees. The formula for working out exemption is as follows: E (Exemption) = 100 [ F (Annual fees) + A (Additional contributions demanded by the school)] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [C (Combined gross income of both parents)] Note: Do this calculation as follows:
If E = 10% (or more than 10%), then the parent qualifies for a full exemption because this means school fees are 10% of his or her income. Examples 1. Nelisiwe is a domestic worker earning R1500 per month. Her gross income for the year is therefore R18 000. She is a single parent with one child. The annual school fees for her child’s school are R2000 per year. Additional school expenses amount to R100 for the year. Would she qualify for a full exemption in school fees? E (Exemption) = 100 [ F (Annual fees) + A (Additional contributions demanded by the school)] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [C (Combined annual gross income of both parents)] E = 100 [R2000 + R100] E = 100 [R2100] E = 100 x 0.12 E = 12% Nelisiwe would qualify for a full exemption because the school fees amount to more than 10% of her income. 2. Thabo and Maria earn a total income of R2 500 per month. This means their gross annual income is R30 000. They have a single child who attends a school where the annual school fees are R4 000 with additional costs of R500. Would they qualify for a full exemption in fees? E (Exemption) = 100 [ F (Annual fees) + A (Additional contributions demanded by the school)] E = 100 [R4 000 + R500] E = 100 [R4 500] E = 100 x 0.15 E = 15% E in this case is greater than 10% which means Thabo and Maria would quality for a full exemption. Partial exemptions According to the exemption formula, if the school fees are between 3.5% and 10% of the total income, a parent will qualify for a partial exemption. Example Suraj has one child in a school. The annual school fees are R3 000 with additional costs of R150 for the year. Together Suraj and his wife earn an annual gross income of R35 000. Will they qualify for a E (Exemption) = 100 [ F (Annual fees) + A (Additional contributions demanded by the school)] E = 100 [R3 000 + R150] E = 100 [R3 150] E = 100 x 0.09 E = 9% Suraj and his wife would qualify for a partial exemption because the fees are between 3.5% and 10% of their combined income. In other words, Suraj will have a pay a portion of the fees. To find out how much he will have to pay, look at the Table. According to this Table which is included in the regulations, parents with one child at a school who spend 9% of their joint income on school fees, qualify for a 94% fee exemption. 94% of the joint income of R3 000 = R2 820 R3000 – R2820 = R180 Suraj will therefore have to pay R180 in school fees for their child for the year. Parents with more than one child at school According to the exemption formula, if the school fees are 2.5% of a parent’s total annual income, the parent does not qualify for any exemption unless she or he has three or more children at the same school or at another public fee-charging school. If the school fees are 3% of a parent’s total income, the parent does not qualify for any exemption unless she or he has two or more children at the same public school or at another ‘fee-charging’ school. While this sounds very complicated, it is easy to work out by using the example below. Example 1. Thabiso has 4 children registered in the same school. The joint annual income of Thabiso and her husband is R25 000. The annual school fees for one learner is R1 500 and the additional costs at the school amount to R50 per learner. What exemption in school fees will Thabiso qualify for? E (Exemption) = 100 [ F (Annual fees) + A (Additional contributions demanded by the school)] E = 100 [R1 500 + R50] E = 100 [R1 550] E = 100 x 0.06 E = 6% The school fees are between 3.5% and 10% of the parent’s total income. The parents will therefore qualify for a partial exemption. What will this exemption be worth to Thabiso? To find this out, look at the Table below. According to the Table, a parent with 4 children attending ‘fee-charging’ schools, who spends at least 6% of the joint family income on school fees, qualifies for an 81% fee exemption. 81% of the school fees of R1 500 = R1 215 R1 500 – R1 215 = R285 Thabiso will therefore have to pay R255 school fees for each of her children. 2. According to the exemption formula you qualify for a 7% exemption from school fees for each of your two children who attend ‘fee-charging’ schools. The fees are R500 per year per child. How much of these fees will you be exempt from paying for each child? Look along the top horizontal line until you get to ‘2’ learners. Next, look down the vertical line of the table and find ‘7%’. Move your finger along the 7% line until it meets the ‘2’ learners column. This will tell you that you qualify for an exemption of 83% of the school fees. To calculate how much this is worth to you: 83% of R500 (the cost of school fees per child per year) = R415 per child. R500 – R415 = R85. You will have to pay R85 school fees per year per child. Table for calculating exemptions from school fees Numbers of learners
No exemptions If the school fees are 2% of a parent’s total income, the parent does not qualify for any exeption unless she or he five or more children at a ‘fee-chargting’ school. If the school fees are less than 2% a parent does not qualify for any exemption. However, if the financial position of parent changes for example, if a parent become retrenched, and he or she is unable to continue paying the compulsory school fees, then the parent must apply to the SGB to ask for the school fees to be waived until he or she is employed again. It will be up to the SGB to decide whether or not to give the parent an exemption, and if so, what the exemption should be. Automatic exemptions The following learners may not be charged any school fees:
Applying for an exemption in fees To apply for an exemption in fees, the parent must do the following:
Parents/caregivers who qualify for fee exemptions should apply to the SGB every year. The SGB has 30 days (one month) to consider and decide on an application. The decision must follow what the law says in the Regulations. In considering an application for exemption, the SGB must take into account:
The SGB then has 7 days (one week) to tell the parent/caregiver what it has decided. Appealing against a decision If the parent/caregiver is unhappy with the decision she or he has 30 days to appeal against the decision in writing to the head of the Department of Education in the province. A parent should be informed of the decision of the Head of Department within 7 weeks from the date the appeal was first made. (See Resources for contact details of the provincial heads of Department of Education.) [Acknowledgements to the Education Law Project (ELP), Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) at www.law.wits.ac.za/cals for the information contained in this section. For further information read their online publication: ‘School fees: Your rights’.]
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