School fees exemption: Do you qualify…and how to apply

Parenthood is not for sissies and due to South Africa’s cost-of-living crisis with rocketing food and fuel prices, aggressive interest rates and increasing debt, many “household heroes” are just not able to pay their children’s monthly school fees.

It is important to note that the law prohibits school management from denying children access to education, school reports, or transfer certificates due to outstanding fees.

Can’t afford to pay school fees? Speak up…

Despite it being their duty to inform parents of their rights to apply for exemptions, unfortunately not all public schools follow this regulation.

Therefore Department of Basic Education Spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga, however, emphasised in an episode of his Elijah Unpacks YouTube channel the importance of proactive communication between parents and schools.

He advised parents to communicate any challenges they face in paying school fees before outstanding fee notifications are send to them.

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Who qualifies for automatic exemption from school fees?

According to government regulations, the following pupils should be exempted from 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; and
• A child whose parents receive a social grant on their behalf, for example, a child support grant.

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No exemption from school fees

• If the school fees are 2% or less 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.
• However, if the financial position of parent changes, for example, if a parent is retrenched and 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.

Full or partial exemption formula

According to Legal Fundi, when applying for an exemption from school fees, a certain 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 or caregiver’s total income, they will be entitled to a full exemption and will not have to pay school fees.
• 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. 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.

To find out how much you will have to pay if granted a partial exemption, take a look at the Table for Calculation Exemptions published on the Legal Fundi website. 

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.

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How to apply for an exemption from school fees

To address the financial challenges faced by some parents, Section 39 of the South African Schools Act has put measures in place to apply for full or partial exemption from school fees. Here’s what to know…

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.

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.

Application process starts with SGB 

Parents are required to approach the School Governing Body (SGB) if they wish to apply for an exemption from paying school fees.

Application forms can be obtained from the SGB through the school principal. 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.

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Timely decision

The SGB has 30 days 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 the following 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 is then obliged to inform the parent or caregiver of the outcome of the application in writing within seven days of assessing the exemption request.

Right to appeal 

Public schools are responsible for assisting parents in lodging appeals.

Parents 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 seven weeks from the date the appeal was first made. 

Contact details for provincial departments

Legal Fundi has put together a list of all the contact details of the provincial basic education departments HERE.

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