At each school the School Governing Body decides what the fees will be. The majority of parents of children at the school must approve the fees at a general meeting of the parent body. Once the fees are agreed, all parents are legally required to pay them. If a parent can’t afford the fees or cannot pay the full amount, they can apply at the school for an exemption. Public schools are not allowed to refuse admission, suspend pupils from classes, deny them access to sporting or social activities, or refuse to issue school reports if parents are unable to or fail to pay school fees. However, the school is allowed to request that parents come to school and collect the reports in person.

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:

• What are the annual school fees for the school
• What the parent or caregiver’s annual income (or earnings) is OR if it is a two-parent household, what the combined gross income is of both parents/caregivers
• How many learners from the same family attend ‘fee-charging’ schools

CALCULATING EXEMPTIONS FROM SCHOOL FEES

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 exemptions is as follows:

E (Exemption) = 100 [ F (Annual fees) + A (Additional contributions demanded by the school)] 

[ C (Combined gross income of both parents) ]

Do this calculation as follows:

1. Calculate the amount in the brackets on the top line.  This gives the amount in fees that the parent has to pay the school.
2. Calculate the amount in the brackets on the bottom line. This gives the income of the parents.
3. Divide the top line by the bottom line
4. Multiply the figure reached in (3) by 100 (to get a percentage)
5. E will now equal a certain percentage

If E = 10% (or more than 10%), then the parent qualifies for a full exemption because this means school fees are 10% of their income.

EXAMPLE – FULL EXEMPTION FROM SCHOOL FEES

1. Nelisiwe is a domestic worker earning R1 500 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 R2 000 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 gross income of both parents) ]

E = 100 [ R2 000 + R100 ] 

[ 18 000 ]

E = 100 [ R2 100 ] 

[ 18 000 ]

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)] 

[ C (Combined gross income of both parents) ]

E = 100 [ R4 000 + R500 ] 

[ 30 000 ]

E = 100 [ R4 500 ] 

[ 30 000 ]

E = 100 x 0.15

E = 15%

E in this case is greater than 10% which means Thabo and Maria would qualify for a full exemption.

AUTOMATIC EXEMPTION

The following learners may not be charged any school fees:

• An orphan in an orphanage
• A child in foster care
• A child who has been placed in the care of a family member (‘kinship caregiver’)
• A child who heads a household or is part of a child-headed household
• A child whose parents receive a social grant on behalf of the same learner, for example, a Child Support Grant

NO EXEMPTION

If the school fees are 2% of a parent’s total income, the parent does not qualify for any exemption unless they have five or more children at a ‘fee-charging’ school. If the school fees are less than 2% a parent does not qualify for any exemption.

However, if the financial position of a parent changes for example, if a parent is retrenched, and they are 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 they are 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.

If the parent has made an application and they are found to be not eligible for exemption and are in arrears with their school fees, then the SGB may decide to take legal action against the defaulting parents. It would be important to help the parent consider whether they should move their child to a no-fee school to avoid incurring further debt if they are experiencing financial difficulty. In addition, they could be advised about settling their outstanding debt.

PARTIAL EXEMPTION

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 (see example below). The school cannot ask the parents to sign an Acknowledgement of Debt in lieu of the possibility of defaulting on payment at a future date.

EXAMPLE – PARTIAL EXEMPTION FROM SCHOOL FEES

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 partial exemption from school fees?

E (Exemption) = 100 [ F (Annual fees) + A (Additional contributions demanded by the school)] 

[ C (Combined gross income of both parents) ]

E = 100 [ R3 000 + R150 ] 

[ 35 000 ]

E = 100 [ R3 150 ] 

[ 35 000 ]

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 to pay a portion of the fees. To find out how much he will have to pay, see below: Table for calculating exemptions from school fees. 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

R3 000 – R2 820 = 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 they have 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 they have 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 Table for calculating exemptions from school fees. Also see Example -Exemption from fees: More than one child at school

EXAMPLES – EXEMPTION FROM FEES: MORE THAN ONE CHILD AT SCHOOL

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)] 

[ C (Combined gross income of both parents) ]

E = 100 [ R1 500 + R50 ] 

[ 25 000 ]

E = 100 [ R1 550 ] 

[ 25 000 ]

E = 100 x 0.06

E = 6%

The school fees are between 3.5% and 10% of the parents’ total income. The parents will, therefore, qualify for a partial exemption. What will this exemption be worth to Thabiso? To find this out see: Table for calculating exemptions from school fees. 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 550 = R1 255.50

R1 550 – R1 255.50 = R294.50

Thabiso will, therefore have to pay R294.50 in school fees for each of her children.

2. According to the exemption formula, Mary qualifies for a 7% exemption from school fees for each of her two children who attend ‘fee-charging’ schools. The fees are R500 per year per child. How much of these fees will Mary be exempt from paying for each child?

In the Table for calculating exemptions from school fees (See below), 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 Mary qualifies for an exemption of 83% of the school fees for each child.

To calculate how much this is worth to her:

83% of R500 (the cost of school fees per child per year) = R415 per child.

R500 – R415 = R85.

Mary will have to pay R85 school fees per year per child.

HOW TO USE THE TABLE

Look along the top horizontal line and find the number of children or learners. Next, look down the vertical line and find the percentage that has been worked out according to the exemption formula. Move your finger along the percentage line until it meets the horizontal column coming down from the number of learners. The figure in the square is how much the exemption will be worth to the parents for each child.

APPLYING FOR AN EXEMPTION IN SCHOOL FEES

It is the duty of the school to inform parents about exemptions. In the case of Two Mothers v Hunt Road Secondary School, the Court held that the school had acted unlawfully in attempting to sue the mothers in question for unpaid school fees, when the mothers qualified for an exemption from fees in terms of their incomes but were never advised by the school of their rights to apply for such exemptions.

To apply for an exemption in fees, the parent must do the following:

• Ask the school for an application form
• Complete the application form. If there is no application form, write a letter to the Chairperson of the SGB requesting to be exempted in part or totally from fees.
• If the parent needs help in completing the application form or writing the letter, the principal of the school must help them.
• Provide a pay slip or letter from the employer explaining how much the parent earns.
• If the parent is unemployed, or self-employed, they should make an affidavit saying what they earn or how they support the child, for example, on a pension or a child care grant.

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 financial position of the applicant, including:
• The total gross annual income of the parents
• The total of their necessary annual expenses
• A statement of their assets and liabilities.
• The number of dependants of the applicant
• The applicant’s standard of living
• Any other relevant information the applicant supplies.

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 they have 30 days to appeal against the decision in writing to the head of the Department of Basic 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 basic education departments)

[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.]