Students Pushed Into Hallway As New Zealand School Struggles To Collect
Students in a certain part of New Zealand, Whangarei may have to learn in a hallway or refused entry to particular subjects if their parents do not pay compulsory course fees. Whangarei Boys High School headmaster Al Kirk alleges about $10,000 is owed from last year.
Unlike donations to the school that are on a voluntary basis, course fees are mandatory for subjects with considerable take-home items, like tools for technology or photography. The school’s plan of action is to single out students who have not yet paid, teaching them in a hall until the debt is settled.
Not surprisingly, the plan has been met with condemnation from the New Zealand Education Ministry, but headmaster Kirk alleges that parents who are “really” unable to pay fees can speak to the school about payment options, and after all, a budget group is available to give the parents advice.
But Mr. Kirk feels as like the problem is more from parents who purposely don’t pay because they think education should be free of charge- high school education has not been free of charge since the 1960s. The school used the same scheme in 2008 and 90 to 98 percent of parents paid immediately, according to Kirk.
Obviously, this plan has its nay-sayers. “The fact that this school would single out students who have nothing to do with their parent’s money, it’s unthinkable” says Michael J Koopmans, education expert.
Local critics have made a point to say that there are many ways to collect the legitimate charges: re-payment plans, or as a last resort, a third party debt collection agency could deal with the parents who won’t pay. Headmaster Kirk says that it would not be cost efficient to utilize a debt collection company.
This is an issue for other schools in the area as well. One local school is thinking about not allowing a student to take a course that their parents cannot pay for. “It’s a huge problem that has to be carefully and critically addressed,” says Michael J Koopmans. “We don’t do that lightly.
Mallory McGuinness works for a debt collection agency. She also writes stories on business and finance, consumer spending and collection agencies. This article, Students Pushed Into Hallway As New Zealand School Struggles To Collect is released under a creative commons attribution licence.