Top-end private schools tend to have wealthier families,a broader enrolment base and bigger cash reserves,while low-cost schools get the bulk of their funding from federal and state governments. A return to face-to-face teaching will likely reduce pressure on schools to give discounts,which was mounting during delivery of remote learning,when students were not enjoying the benefit of school facilities.
Geoff Newcombe,chief executive of the Association of Independent Schools of NSW,said many independent schools were now suffering financial stress,"with an increasing number of parents,as high as 60 per cent in some schools,requesting part or full fee remission,"he said.
"With the government’s decision not to allow decoupling of the financial arrangements of boarding schools and early childhood centres from the main school accounts,a number of these facilities are now facing imminent closure.
"Independent schools in NSW provide the majority of boarding places and if facilities close,many students from regional and remote areas will be denied the opportunity to complete their education at their current school and face long daily commutes."
AISNSW is calling on the federal government to bring forward the July funding instalment,give non-government schools access to the JobSeeker threshold and give independent schools in financial stress emergency interest-free loans.
Last week,federal Education Minister Dan Tehan said the government"could look,potentially,at bringing some of those[scheduled] payments forward to help with cash flow".
Mark Spencer,director of public policy at Christian Schools Australia,which represents 155 sites across the country,said his schools were reporting between 20 and 30 per cent of families asking for fee relief or deferral."Schools are obviously working hard with those parents to keep them there,it's really dislocating for kids to have to move schools,"he said.
Mr Spencer is calling on the federal government to use enrolment figures at the beginning of term one,rather than the usual census in August,to determine the school's student numbers,and therefore its funding allocation.
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He fears schools'government funding,on which they determined their budget forecasts at the beginning of the year,will be reduced if students are forced to drop out because their parents have lost their jobs.
"Schools are budgeted on what they got in the door at the beginning of term one,[knowing they will receive] no less would be a real safeguard,"he said.
Independent schools were last week given permission to reduce non-teaching staff members'pay by 25 per cent and ask them to swap jobs – grounds keepers doing cleaning,for example – to help meet the fee shortfall.