Education
(1) Whether independent schools are allowed to withhold academic reports and/or other documents of learners who owe school fees; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(2) whether there has (sic) been any cases of independent schools withholding documents of learners owing fees; if so, (a) what are the relevant details and (b) how does her Department intervene in such cases;
(3) with regard to the case of a learner at the Junior College who has been out of school for several months and the school’s refusing to give the parents the academic report, (a) what steps did her Department take after the case was reported and (b) what steps is she going to take to assist the learner whose right to education is being infringed upon;
(4) whether she would institute an investigation into independent schools’ possible practice of withholding important documents from learners who owe fees; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
(1) No, independent schools are not allowed to withhold academic reports and/or other documents of learners who owe school fees.
In a matter between NFM and John Wesley School in the Kwa-Zulu Natal High Court in 2016, the matter of exclusion was raised in respect of the non-payment of school fees.
The ruling stated that since “the Constitution requires private parties or bodies not to interfere with or diminish the right to basic education, independent schools must act in a manner that minimises any harm on the learner’s right to basic education. The Department of Basic Education and National Alliance of Independent School Associations (NAISA) signed a protocol in 2008 which dealt with exclusions amongst other considerations. Similar to ISASA, the protocol recognises the right of independent schools to exclude a learner who contravenes the schools code of conduct drafted in line with relevant legislation 22 and good practice and in instances where the contract between the school and parent has been broken usually due to non-payment of fees. However, such exclusion may only be implemented after following a fair procedure and in doing so, regard must be had to the child’s best interest.”
“While the Act does not prohibit independent schools from suspending or expelling learners whose parents have failed to pay school fees in time, this need not be the case in all circumstances. Independent schools must act in a manner that minimises the negative impact of their actions on the ability of learners to attend school. Since expelling or excluding a learner for unpaid school fees invariably impacts on this, the learner’s circumstances must be considered. Therefore, any decision to suspend or expel a learner during school term must satisfy due process. These include adequate warning prior to suspension or exclusion, provision to make arrangements to settle fees or opportunity to make arrangements to enrol a learner at a new school. These must precede the suspension or expulsion of the learner.”
(2) (a) Yes, parents have contacted the WCED for assistance when it comes to the non-payment of school fees and the withholding of documents. We do not keep records of these cases.
(b) The WCED will engage with the school and the parents in an attempt to resolve the situation. However, these are independent schools, and as such cannot be compelled by the WCED.
(3) (a) After numerous telephonic and email communications it was discovered that the school had, on numerous occasions, requested the parent to come to the school to discuss the outstanding fees and that the reports would then be given to the parent.
The parent complained that she did not have money to travel to the school. On request of the WCED, the school provided the reports to the parent.
(b) The parents enrolled the learner at Strandfontein Primary School successfully.
(4) The WCED will investigate any instance of an independent school withholding important documents from learners owing school fees, and attempt to assist parents and the school to resolve the situation.
