School fee "donations" & activity fees - Where to draw the line?

[The End]

A friend of mine recently helped out at a local primary school activity day.

It was for a Year 3 (7/8 year olds) "camp" held inside the school grounds. The kids were taught how to put up tents, melt marshmallows on a fire and then were given sausages/bread for lunch like you see outside your local Warehouse.

What was disturbing to hear however was what happened during lunchtime.

The kids all lined up waiting for their sausage/onion/bread/sauce yet some of them were not allowed to be given one as their parents had not paid the school activity fee ($85/year). Ordinarily this would not be too bad, however when one of the kids had no other lunch, surely the teachers in charge would have allowed them a 20 cent piece of bread and a sausage? Nope.

Fair enough if the school trip is to Rainbows End or The Zoo where it costs substantially more to take the kids, exclude them from that; but for a piece of bread surely the school can afford to give the kid something to eat.

Screw bringing milk back to primary schools, make sure the kids have food in their stomachs if you actually want them to learn something.


/Rant

[sugilite:Me]

Yeah, so much for a "free" education. Not everybody can afford to pay these "donations" and the stigma it causes for the children when they are very publicly excluded from school events is reprehensible.

[Bassmatt]

Just following the lead of the Govt. - if the parents are shit punish the kids for it.

[The Lone Rider]

Were the kids sent to the camp with no food because there was the understanding a meal (bread and sausages) were being provided?

[The End]

Were the kids sent to the camp with no food because there was the understanding a meal (bread and sausages) were being provided?

I'm not sure on that one, but for the sake of 20 cents, surely the school could give the kid something to eat...

[Mully]

Were the kids sent to the camp with no food because there was the understanding a meal (bread and sausages) were being provided?

I think that's probably a co-incidence. It's mind-boggling how many kids are sent to school with no lunch (and not having had breakfast either)....

[JimO]

$85.00 thats fuck all try having 3 at high school

[The Lone Rider]

I was just curious if it was a case of parents not providing food for whatever lame reason, which would likely happen more than once... or if the kids had no food because the parents were told "Camping at school and a fire and bbq"

[2Seat_Terror]

NZ is living in a dream world. Free education? Free healthcare? Free speech? Democracy?



Yeah right.

[Oblivion]

3 years ago, when my brother and I were both at High school, the "donation" was 140$ for the both of us. Last year, its was 200$ per person. Needless to say, Parents weren't happy bout that..

[mashman]

$260 each for the 2 at primary school and $40 for the girl at kindy. Fuckin pathetic expensive business. I still don't know what the kids get for it really.

[yungatart]

School donations area necessary evil. The lower decile schools can usually manage with a lower donation, higher decile schools get very limited funding from govt, so need a higher donation to cover things like libraries, upgraded text books, technology equipment,sports and pe gear to name just a few things.
Parents expect that schools will provide all that stuff for their kids, but don't want to pay for it.
Strikes me that schools are damned either way.

[mashman]

I thought I paid taxes so that schools could afford those things?

[yungatart]

I thought I paid taxes so that schools could afford those things?

Most people think like you. Your taxes (and everyone else's) do not fund schools to a level where parents don't need to do a top up by way of donation.
Sad, but true.

[mashman]

Most people think like you. Your taxes (and everyone else's) do not fund schools to a level where parents don't need to do a top up by way of donation.
Sad, but true.

Must be a Kiwi thing then... only thing we paid for in the UK was school trips... books etc... where provided by the school and I don't remember fundraising either. As you say, sad but true.