Activity Fees
Schools can ask for, but not insist on, payment of fees for activities that fall outside the curriculum or have a "take home component", at the beginning of the year. Schools can not make payment in advance a condition of enrolment and must ensure that learning is not impacted through non-payment for any reason, as Section 3 of the Education Act guarantees free enrolment.
The Ministry suggests that;
- schools provide a "pay as you go" option so that parents do not pay in advance for things such as class trips that a sick child may not ultimately attend.
- schools itemize their fees so that parents can choose which activities they want their children to participate in.
- schools inform parents at the beginning of the year of the materials charge for subjects such as clothing and woodwork.
Notably the Ministry of Education (1998-25) advises that it is inappropriate for activity fees to cover student workbooks (textbooks that students write in) and photocopying. Activity fees are a 'goods and service' so attract GST. The operation of activity fees is described in cases below.
Read more about this topic: School Fees In New Zealand
Famous quotes containing the word activity:
“Criticism is infested with the cant of materialism, which assumes that manual skill and activity is the first merit of all men, and disparages such as say and do not, overlooking the fact, that some men, namely, poets, are natural sayers, sent into the world to the end of expression, and confounds them with those whose province is action, but who quit to imitate the sayers.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)