The Value Of Education
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday February 8, 2007
It may be an expensive exercise to send a child to an independent school, but many parents believe the outcomes justify the cost, writes Amy De Lore.
It's a staggering thought: the cost of private education for a school student, according to recently released figures from the Australian Scholarships Group, is as much as $346,000. That means a family with three children is potentially looking at a seven-figure sum to see their children through to year 12.Yet independent school waiting lists remain full, with registration at birth recommended by the most popular institutions.Newington College's director of development, Elizabeth Pont, says: "It's not cheap, but it is money well spent." She speaks from a personal as well as a professional viewpoint, having decided as a young mother to go back to work to give her two sons, now in their 30s, an independent-school education.Pont has plenty of empathy with the parents who will pay up to $19,917 in tuition fees to send their sons to Newington this year. That money comes on top of a non-refundable enrolment fee that is currently $3320, an enrolment registration fee of $125, a senior school outdoor-education levy of $507, up to $1000 in uniform costs, a primary school excursion and amenities charge of up to $600 and additional charges for special excursions and sports tours, individual coaching or tuition, as well as stationery and textbook costs. And, where applicable, there is an annual boarding fee of about $17,000.For that investment, students gain access to a school with outstanding facilities, including a pool and gym and three sports ovals, a broad curriculum and co-curricular program with more than 40 activities and class sizes generally of about 24 or less.But for all that, Pont says it is the intangible factors that generally sway parents when it comes to deciding whether or not to send their child to an independent school."Facilities play a part but they are also looking at history and tradition, at the ethos of a school and its commitment to learning or the opportunities for children to broaden their horizons through access to sports and music and other activities," she says.Explaining the link between fees and facilities, Louise Robert-Smith, headmistress at the equally well-equipped Ascham, says: "A beautiful place like Ascham requires quite a deal of financial support to keep it looking and functioning the way it does - that money doesn't grow on trees."Most independent schools derive the majority of their income from fees, donations and fund-raising and their biggest single annual expense is teaching salaries. At Ascham, where the teacher to student ratio is 1:8, Robert-Smith says that means more money needs to be spent on teachers. And if the school wants the best teachers, especially in hard-to-staff subjects, it needs to offer above-award salaries.Annual fees at the Edgecliff girls' school range from about $11,000 at preschool level to $20,500 for a year 12 student, but bursar Bill Apter describes that as the "rack rate", pointing out that more than 70 students receive some form of subsidy, ranging from temporary fee relief to a full scholarship.Additional costs include an enrolment fee of $2500 a family, uniform outlay of between $500 and $2000 and costs of $100 to $400 a year for textbooks. Extracurricular activities that involve special tuition or coaching are charged at $35 a 30-minute lesson.The school also conducts overseas student exchanges and occasional overseas excursions, such as this year's planned arts trip to New York. While such activities can run to several thousand dollars, Robert-Smith says they are always well-subscribed.COUNTING THE COST: WHAT TO CONSIDER*Are co-curricular activities part of the fee structure or do they incur additional charges?*Is there an enrolment fee and/or a registration charge?*Are there extra charges for excursions and out-of-school activities?*Does the school have second-hand book and uniform pools?*Is your child likely to be eligible for a full or partial scholarship?*Does the school have a hardship fund that provides temporary fee relief?*Is there a compulsory building levy? *Is there a sibling discount system?*Does the school offer a discount for early or advance payments?
© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald