Now that the heady rush of the festive season is past and many are back at work, parents are facing the onslaught of school costs, including fees, stationery and uniforms.

The second annual DebtBusters Money-Stress Tracker survey last year revealed that payment of school fees is a top money-stress factor for South Africans, coming in ahead of inflation and interest rates. This is telling in light of the fact that inflation and interest rates have been steadily increasing over the past three to five years, offering debt-laden consumers no respite.

The prime lending rate of 11.75% is at its highest in three years, and Neil Roets, the chief executive of Debt Rescue, says a massive 69% of consumers in South Africa say they cannot pay their bills on time every month.

“We foresee that South Africans will have taken on more debt over the festive season and [are likely to] lean even more heavily on their credit and store cards to get through January,” he warns.

The payment of school fees as a top concern makes sense given that the TPN Credit Bureau reported that more than 40% of school fee accounts were in arrears at the end of the school year before last (December 2022). TPN further reported that 25% of parents did not make any sort of payment at all towards outstanding school fees.

The Old Mutual Savings and Investment Monitor 2023 shows that 11% of South Africans moved their children to less expensive schools last year. Half of South Africans in the study said they were saving towards their children’s education, up from 43% last year, and 29% were using a stokvel to save for school fees or education costs.

Five ways to keep costs down

1. Shop at home first. Think of this as a stationery stocktake. Your children don’t need to start the year with everything brand new when there is likely to be a perfectly good pencil case from last year. Look at what needs replacing and only add those items to your shopping list. Wash the pencil case if it is a bit grubby.
2. Stay away from brand items. Your child needs a glue stick; it doesn’t have to be the top brand. The same goes for branded lunch boxes. While your child may love the idea of a Frozen, Paw Patrol or Sophia the First lunch box, this is not going to affect the taste of their lunch, and chances are that a generic lunch box will be more practical with better space configurations.
3. Use the stationery list as a guideline. Schools now send out a stationery list towards the end of the year. But there is no rule that says you can’t send your child to school with what they need and then top up during the year.
4. If your child has outgrown their uniform, sell it on Facebook Marketplace or WhatsApp groups, and use the cash to buy new items. Your school may also have a secondhand shop on the premises, where you can buy lightly used items at half the cost, if not less.
5. Use rewards programmes. For example, the School-Days rewards programme offers parents and donors the opportunity to earn points, which can be used towards school fees. The programme works via an app or online registration and you receive a membership or School-Days Edu number that allows you to earn points each time you shop at retail partners including Dis-Chem and Baby City. Unlike the popular MySchool Card, the School-Days rewards programme allows you to allocate points specifically towards your own family’s education fees. You can add up to four beneficiaries: up to two schools, the Adopt-A-School Foundation and/or your own family.

According to Old Mutual, school fees for a child who started Grade R last year could cost about R875,000 on average to get through the 13-year public schooling system.

“Parents looking to put their children through private schooling would need to account for R1.89-million on average,” the financial services giant says.

You could make an upfront annual payment of school fees in January for a discount of 5% to 7.5%. But if you choose to put the same money in an interest-bearing account, you may earn more interest than you would save by making the payment. For example, TymeBank offers a 9% interest rate on a three-month fixed deposit account.

Be proactive when it comes to school fees

• Don’t wait for statements. Contact your school bursar to make a repayment arrangement.
• Find out if you qualify for a fees exemption if your child is at a public school and check what supporting documents you need to submit.
• If your child is at a private school, ask the bursar if there are any relief plans available for parents directly impacted by the Covid-19 lockdown.
• Review options such as aftercare. If you want to cancel your aftercare plan, you may have to give the school 30 days’ notice.
• Look at switching to a school that is more affordable.
• When you investigate online school options, don’t forget about monthly costs such as data, printing and devices such as computers in addition to fees. DM