Major drop in school fees received

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - With parents having been affected financially by the Covid-19 lockdown, there has been a drop in the payment of school fees.

The Mossel Bay Advertiser contacted three schools where fees are obligatory, to find out what terms had been implemented for affected parents and how the schools were coping with the drop in payments.

Point High School headmaster Adolf Gouws said there was a notable drop in fee payment even before the lockdown started on 27 March.

"We had to put measures in place then, already, as well as relook the budget and rebudget."

The school also has several major annual fundraising events which contribute to its coffers, but these were scuppered by the lockdown. Two are the Arthur Johnson Sport Week and the KFC Cricket Week, which were cancelled because of the lockdown. Gouws added that the usual annual school sports meetings, which also generated funds for the school, had also been cancelled.

Creative projects
The school was considering creative fundraising projets such as a drive-in evening, a concert featuring the school staff and an online golf tournament.

Gouws said the school was encouraging the parents who had been affected financially by the lockdown and was in ongoing communication regarding payment terms with those who had truly been hard hit, losing their jobs and businesses.

Jaco Olivier, executive head of Curro Mossel Bay private school, said: "From the start of May the Curro national group made a large sum available, so that parents could apply for relief from a Curro Care Fund."

He said parents could either apply to the school or head office for relief which was given, depending on the proof they provided about loss of jobs, businesses or income. Also, some parents were offered a payment plan.

Bursaries
"A few parents were granted discounts in fees. I am also looking into giving discretionary discounts to parents, as well as bursaries."

Olivier said the Care Fund would expire at the end of July. "From then we will consider individual applications for a discretionary discount - specifically for parents affected by Covid-19."

We lost a few children because of finances. Some parents could not afford to pay fees at all. In general, countrywide, many private schools lost children because of the lockdown."

Daan du Toit, principal of Park Primary School in Mossel Bay, said: "Many of our parents lost their jobs. We put together a Covid-19 budget and considered where we could save money in different areas because our outlay was less during the lockdown."

Du Toit said parents could apply for a payment break during the lockdown period. He said the school experienced a 24 to 26 percent drop in school fee income and the school was still looking at where it could save money.

Jaco Olivier