Allen Glen High School has urged parents to contact the school about their fee exemption process if they ever fall on hard times.
This after the school was accused of asking for an additional R1 300 e-book fee over and above the annual school fees, which is illegal.
Warren Mackrill, the school governing body chairperson, has since confirmed that the e-book fee did indeed form part of the annual school fee and it was not an additional expense. MacKrill said parents could apply for exemption as soon as school started. “They have a fortnight to return the documents and the school will reply within 14 days,” he said.
Mackrill added that if the timeline was correctly followed, parents should receive exemption well before March, and the e-book fee would be included, either partially or wholly, within the agreed-upon exemption plan. “Should a parent receive a full or partial exemption from school fees, the exemption is extended to the purchase of e-books. We do, however, strongly request that parents assist the school by attempting to pay something towards their children’s e-books,” MacKrill said.
He added that if parents fell on hard times, they could apply for exemption anytime during the year.
After the initial article, a reader came forward, saying their domestic worker’s child went an entire year without books because they could not pay the fee. MacKrill said he does not know whether they applied for exemption, and he was thus unable to comment. As soon as the information is available, an update will be imminent.
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