The private primary school charging just $250 a year
A private Catholic school has lowered its school fees from $2175 to $250 a year — just $9 more than many public school fees. FIND OUT WHERE
North & North East
Don't miss out on the headlines from North & North East. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- The fees for every Adelaide public school revealed
- $42m expansion of Noarlunga schoool
- Are you getting the most out of your Advertiser digital subscription?
A northern suburbs Catholic primary school is charging just $250 a year for tuition.
St Mary Magdalene’s School in Elizabeth Grove reduced its fees this year, from the previous annual charge of $2175, in an effort to encourage enrolment and make itself more accessible to local families.
The school now costs just $9 more a year than all of the public primary schools in the area, including Elizabeth Grove Primary and Elizabeth South Primary, which charge $241.
With only 90 children currently enrolled, St Mary Magdalene’s has had a 44 per cent pupil decrease since 2013.
Catholic Education South Australia assistant director Bruno Vieceli said giving local families access to an affordable Catholic education was the driving factor in the new strategy.
“We undertook an extensive analysis of each school’s financial position and families’ capacity to pay school fees,” Mr Vieceli said.
“We have had feedback from some parents that they couldn’t afford our fees.
“We’ve always offered fee reductions to families under financial pressure.
“This decision makes it even easier for families to access our schools.
“We don’t want cost to be a barrier.”
MORE NEWS
Plan to boost Rundle Mall’s night time visitors
Walkerville YMCA to get the boot
Will this vacant land finally be developed?
The Fairfield Rd school is one of a trio within the Elizabeth Mercy Schools cluster.
The other two – St Thomas More School in Elizabeth Park and Catherine McAuley School in Craigmore – have also reduced their fees ahead of the 2020 school year.
St Thomas More has also experienced a drop in enrolments and has reduced its fees from $2300 to $990.
Catherine McAuley maintains a healthy enrolment of 346 and is still the most expensive in the trio at $1500 – down from the previous $2460.