Comments on: Public vs private schooling

By: Em

Em — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 04:25:35 +0000

I believe that private school would be a great option if A you don't' live in the greatest environment, or B The school has great qualities that the public school doesn't offer your child. My daughter was enrolled in a private school because she had some serious substance abuse problems, I had to found a school called West Ridge Academy. I think it all depends on the needs of you and your child.

By: Dee

Dee — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:24:02 +0000

i am FLABBERGASTED, this system teaches our kids to be materialistic. its totally sickning. i am a single mother to a two year old boy; because of all these scary storis about fees in primary school, i have found myself saving more for primary education than university. second hand shops should be the future and maybe parents should raise these issues at PTA meetings and hope the governing body has some sense.

i sympathise with you

By: Mina

Mina — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:59:16 +0000

I read all the posts and the sad part is that NO MATTER by how much the fees ‘go up’ by next year …we (parents) have no choice and will have to cough up. We can complain about it on pages like this BUT ultimately we will just have to pay up.
I registered my 5 year old to start grade 0 at a private school. between last year August when I registered and January this year when she started, the fees increased 27%. I have spent over R11 000.00 for deposit, school fees, books, stationery, technology fees etc etc…. and the bill is still going up. Now we must pay for compulsory hearing and eye tests and valentines Civvie days etc etc
I cleared my overdraft with my December paycheck only to be in the RED again in January….
I run a small playschool in Joburg. Thankfully I have a very close relationship with all my moms and when I increased my fees for 2010, the moms that were feeling the pinch the most, approached me and we nogotiated a better fee increase that was more reasonable for this year, considering the recession and everything.
Can we do this with big private schools or even government schools?
So what do we do…??? Do we just complain a little and PAY??? or is there actually something we can do??? someone that can be held accountable??

By: Seni

Seni — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 08:29:13 +0000

Hi Deborah

I also feel the pinch, although my child is in a public school and I am not a single parent.

The school fees has gone up by R880 and the uniform is ridiculously priced. She loves ballet so much, and I am scared to tell her that I cant afford to pay for ballet, it will really break her heart.

Each and every week there are hidden costs that we have to pay, already I need to pay the school R50 for KNET, R5 for report folder, R30 for the books, R15 for Cinderella, all these fees needs to be paid before the end of January.

By the end of a year the additional costs will be + – R2000.

I am even scared to have another child.

By: Theresa

Theresa — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 07:52:49 +0000

We have just moved our boys from a Private School in Cape Town with fees totalling R10 000 a month to a government school that costs us R1400.00 per month for both boys! Obviuosly we had now lost our R32 000 deposit but thankfully the government school did not reuire one. In all fairness, the goverment school we have moved to is not on Private School level as far as luxuries and mod-cons but it is the best thing I could have ever done for my boys. They have settled beautifully. As for the “start-up” costs – we only had to shell out R1500 on uniforms (school bags included) and R900 on stationery, a mere R250 on second hand text books and the rest were provided by the school. My pocket is most definitely feeling a lot heavier near the end of the month!

By: Lihle

Lihle — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:43:04 +0000

The worst thing for me is that after you have paid the R5000 deposit, bought the expensive uniform and stationery (including the plastic covers that they INSIST you must buy from the school even though Checkers sells them a whole lot cheaper) and you have paid the insanely high school fees, or at least the first instalment…there are still bits and pieces that you must pay for every week.

I promise you, not a week goes by that my daughter, who is in Grade 7 this year, does not come home and says: “Mom, I need R20/R50/R100 for this or that”. All of this in the middle of the month, nogal.

Home schooling, anyone?

By: deborah

deborah — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:29:01 +0000

although im not a single mother (living with partner) i also feel the pinch. my daughter has just started gr000 at a private school. we also got a list of stationery supplies that were needed (and were told to get it from waltons)then also the school uniforms that needed to be brought as well. Then the school also does “charity work” where we must send veggies to school once a week and donate a silver coin every friday for their charity. (not going to the school but an old age home that they sponsor)wouldnt b so bad except you get those wealthy parents that will send bags of vegies (while u send the bits you can afford to be without)and then there is also the extra murials that is “offered” by the school (at additional costs to their fees) and to let your child know that they wont b joining in with the ballet or tennis breaks their hearts as well. luckily for this year the burden of the school fees wont b as bad (we had to pay deposit and 1 terms school fees last year when the child was accepted the balance to be paid off over 10 months this year R1640 monthly

By: Aisha

Aisha — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 07:36:24 +0000

Hi Laura,

We are fortunate enough at our school with the help of mums to run a swop shop. Parents usually donate all the school uniform and text books that they don’t need and we in turn sell these at a fraction of a price. I have two boys (aged 10 & 9) who are a year apart and they seem to be growing faster as the days go by. I could never afford a blazer given the current prices especially having to buy two at a time. I shop at the swop shop and yes its value for money as most of the uniform is as good as new. You could ask the school to into something like that as it also generates a small income for the school. As for stationery, our school negotiates prices with waltons who then create stationery packs for each child, this year for grade 3 I only paid R500 for the whole years supply and for grade 4 I paid R320. The school can do something to try and ease of this financial burden, all it takes at times is a little suggestion from parents and also assistance offered to the school when the time is needed.

By: Cris

Cris — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 06:36:36 +0000

Hi Laura-Kim
I totally connect with you. i am a single mom and my 2 kids are in a public primary school as well. the school uniforms and PT clothing is exhorbitant! i thought going to a public school would cut cost as well, but every week it seems a hidden cost creeps up. keeping up financially is becoming an impossible task – thank goodness both my kids are doing incredibly well academically and enjoying their school career so far……………

By: Candice

Candice — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 06:24:55 +0000

SA should relook the quality of education and what really is important – does it matter what brand glue you use or what HB pencil you write with – instead we should be teaching our kids about the more meaningful things in life – instilling morals and values, sharing and caring -BASICS