Private schools could raise fees to compensate for COVID-19 closures
Private schools who were forced to close their doors due to the coronavirus pandemic could jack up fees next year, in a bid to claw back money lost during the shutdown.
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Private schools could be forced to jack up fees next year to claw back money lost through coronavirus.
Boarding schools - many of which rely heavily on high fee paying international students - have been among the worst hit by COVID-19 closures.
Even now, travel and strict social distancing restrictions in dormitories meant many could not resume normal operations and return all their domestic and international boarding students, the Australian Boarding Schools Association said.
“(Many) schools haven’t been charging fees for boarders while they’re not on campus.
“So it’s not just the international kids, the domestic kids are a problem (financially) for schools as well,” ABSA chief Richard Stokes said.
While raising fees next year was the last thing private schools wanted to do - when they knew many families were cash-strapped - it was likely they would have to, he said.
“I’m not saying that it is definitely going to be the case, but there’s real potential there’s going to be a problem. Real potential,” he told the Sunday Herald Sun.
Independent Schools Victoria chief executive officer, Michelle Green, said private schools did not set their budgets for the following year until July or August, so it was still too early to say if, and where, fees would rise.
However, she confirmed the coronavirus crisis had put “financial pressure” on private schools - some of which had reduced fees this year to help struggling families – as well as losing revenue from international students and boarders.
“We are concerned about the financial pressure on all independent schools, which is likely to increase as a result of the economic impact of COVID-19,” Ms Green said.
“Fees are a matter for individual schools to decide. They never take decisions to alter their fees lightly – whether that is increasing, decreasing or holding them level.
“In setting fees, they have always had to take into account economic circumstances, the capacity of parents to pay fees, and the level of educational services schools seek to provide.
“Many independent schools – not just those enrolling international students – have already made adjustments to their fees for this year, given that many parents have suffered a loss of income due to the economic slowdown caused by restrictions imposed to deal with COVID-19.”
The elite Peninsula Grammar has flagged future financial headaches, predicting a sharp drop in enrolments next year.
However, Scotch College has publicly pledged not to increase fees next year, announcing last month it would freeze fees and staff salaries for 2021.
It’s understood it is the only Victorian private school to do so to date.