EDITORIAL: School fees - voluntary or not?

by Laura Franklin | 16th July 2009

Controversy over Masterton's Rathkeale College demanding payment of "voluntary" school fees echoes an issue faced by parents across the Bay of Plenty, and the whole of New Zealand.

Despite the free education system we supposedly enjoy in New Zealand, the charges can be are substantial.

Some of the payment to schools is optional, other parts are compulsory - but how many parents are really game to withhold the "voluntary" portion? Most pay the whole request, even if it's difficult to afford, even if it takes months to get the spare cash together amid repeated reminders from the school.

Of course we need to support our schools, and those who can afford to pay are no doubt happy to do so, but organisations representing boards of trustees and integrated schools such as Rathkeale emphasise that the institutions have no right to put any pressure on parents to pay voluntary donations.

Despite this, some schools go so far as to call in debt collectors, to exclude students from school trips or events, or even to withhold leaving certificates, reports and course records. (Such tactics are of dubious legality since boards are required by the Government to report on student progress. They are subject to the Official Information Act, which means that parents are entitled to request information about their children, and they are bound by the Privacy
Act, which means that students themselves can obtain personal information held by the school.)

The charges that parents are faced with come under various names. They may be called "school fees", "levies", "activity fees", even "compulsory donations".

The facts are, though, that donations, whether the school decides to brand them "compulsory" or not, are optional and also tax deductible. The right to a free education in this country means the payment of a fee cannot be a prerequisite for enrolment.

Materials used in school work can, in some cases, be charged for, but only if students are creating genuine "take home" items, not ordinary classroom work - nor even photocopying, although that is an itemised cost often seen on the school fee account.

At the end of the day, the argument over funding is between the schools and the Government. Parents should not have to be fighting this battle - and students should not suffer because of it.