If one considers Mhlongo v John Wesley School and Another, the Court held that a school could not rely on any contractual agreement between themselves and the parents as the exclusion or suspension provision was not found in the contract in operation. The School had sought to suspend the student for non-payment based on a policy document of the Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa (“ISASA”), to which the school is a member of.

It is evident from this Constitution and in this judgment, that the best interests of the child are of utmost importance and therefore, the school has a duty not to inhibit with a child’s right to education. An exclusion or suspension policy MUST be a means of last resort and should a suspension be followed; due process must be followed as set out in SASA and the case itself. This included providing satisfactory warning prior to implementing the policy and making an arrangement to settle outstanding fees.

After obtaining judgment to do so, and as per St Charles College v Du Hecquet De Rauville and Others. The Court in this matter found that, certain factors such as “the circumstances in which the debt was incurred; any attempts made by the debtor to pay off the debt; the financial situation of the parties; the amount of the debt; whether the debtor is employed or has a source of income to pay off the debt,” and any other factor relevant to the particular facts of the case must be brought before the court prior to obtaining judgement.

Yes, but only after a 20-business day Letter of Demand has been sent by registered post and / or by hand and 3 billing cycles have passed.

Yes, unless an exemption or partial exemption has been granted to the Parents. Should a Parent be granted a partial exemption, they are still liable for the remaining balance and can be listed for this remaining amount if due procedure has been followed. 

The school must notify the parents in writing that they have the right to apply for an exemption or partial exemption of school fees. Should the parent have already applied and were unsuccessful or neglected to apply despite notice, the school must notify them of this in writing. 

A Letter of Demand must also be sent by registered post and / or by hand and 3 billing cycles must have passed.

No, a Public School cannot act against a student for the parents’ failure to pay school fees. 

In respect of admissions, per section 5(3)(a), “no learner may be refused admission to a Public School on the grounds that his or her parent is unable to pay or has not paid the school fees determined by the governing body under section 39”.

Yes, after obtaining judgment to do so.

However, a duty still lies with the school to remind the parent to apply for an exemption.

The school must notify the parents in writing that they have the right to apply for an exemption or partial exemption of school fees. Should the parent have already applied and were unsuccessful or neglected to apply despite notice, the school must notify them of this in writing prior to obtaining a judgement. One may assume that the factors of the abovementioned case will also be considered prior to obtaining a judgement.

It’s clear from the above, that there are various factors schools and parents must consider in school fee payments.

Section 41 of the Sexual Offences Act requires all school staff (teachers, coaches, administrators, groundstaff) to be checked against the Sexual Offences Register. The Childrens Act, section 126, requires all school staff to be checked against the National Child Protection Register.

Both of these registers are based on criminal convictions.

TPN's biometric criminal check provides details on all convictions and cases awaiting trial. And, for your convenience, TPN can arrange biometric capturing at your school.

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TPN assists Public and Independent Schools alike to keep track of parents’ payment profiles, to pick up on payment trends, to send Letters of Demand when parents default, and where necessary, to adversely list parents per the process above. TPN’s data shows that parents are more inclined to pay if they know that, should they default, they are at risk of adversely affecting their credit profile. The opposite also holds true; it gives parents the opportunity - if they pay on time - to improve their credit record.

Let TPN help your School to collect your outstanding debts, so that educators can focus on what they do best - providing greater value to South African education for students from all walks of life.

• Log onto TPN on www.tpn.co.za
• Click sign in and enter TPN username & password.
• Select Credit Checks from the blue ribbon at the top of the screen.

•  Select Perform a new consumer credit check.
• The system allows you to choose an enquiry either by ID number or passport number. To perform the check on a passport number, select change to passport number search to the right of the ID number field.
• Enter the ID number, first name, surname, current address, and cell phone number.
• If you are performing a passport number search, you will need to enter the nationality and date of birth of the applicant.
• Click Next >>

• The system will then ask for the Credex details, the ID verification and to confirm consent.
• Credex Score - there are 2 Credex versions available:
• Basic - probability of consumer defaulting in future.
• Silver - generates affordability based on consumer income and school fee amount (if you don’t have an income amount, choose Basic Credex)
• RSA ID Verification - verifies the ID number the applicant has given you against their surname.
• Verify Biometrics - a selfie check to confirm the consumers presence, remove risk of fraud, and verify their selfie vs home affairs photo. Confirms Marital status, Deceased indicator, ID number, name.
• Verified Online Bank Statements – request up to 6 months’ bank statements directly from bank to confirm affordability and comply with FICA (eliminate fraudulent documents)
• Verify Address - Perform a proof of address verification against the supplied addresses.
• NCA Compliance Declaration - verifying that you have consent to perform the credit check. Please ensure you retain the proof of consent for you records.
• Click Next>>

• By default, the EduCheck / SmartCheck enquiry will be selected.
• This enquiry includes the TPN and TransUnion enquiries, as well as account payment information, at a discounted rate.
• If you do not have access to the EduCheck / SmartCheck enquiry, you can select the TPN Individual Enquiry, the TransUnion Individual Enquiry and the Experian Individual Enquiry and then contact the Data department for information on how to get access.
• There are several additional reports that can be selected:
• Bank Account Verification - this verifies that the bank account does belong to the applicant.
• Qualification Check – this verifies and confirms qualifications held.

• Once you are satisfied with your selection of enquiries click Perform credit check >>

• The credit checks are processed immediately, and the next screen will display automatically.
• You will note at the top of the screen each enquiry is individually tabbed with the Summary Report displayed first.  You can click on each report that was selected to view it.
• On the left-hand side menu, you will be able to download, email or print full report as well as the condensed report.

Reminder:  All enquiries done are automatically saved in Credit Check History under the Credit Check Menu.

Schools and Parents alike often have several questions on what can and cannot be done in respect of collecting school fees after a non-paying parent has defaulted on payments. 

It is important to note that, there is a distinctive difference in how Independent Schools and Public Schools are governed. 

In respect of Independent Schools, the obligation to pay school fees flow from the contractual agreement between parents and the school. If a parent defaults on school fee payments, they would be in breach of the agreement and the school is entitled to send a 20-business day Letter of Demand in which they demand outstanding payments. Should the parent fail to remedy this breach, the Independent School is entitled to follow various debt collection options.

In contrast, Public Schools are governed by the South African Schools Act (“SASA”) together with its corresponding regulations. Public School parents are afforded greater protection should they default on school fee payments in comparison to Independent Schools. An evident example is that Public Schools can only take legal action against defaulting parents once they have determined whether the parents qualify for an exemption (or partial exemption) from payment and, if so, only once the appropriate deductions have been made to the amount owing. Although Public Schools can take action against parents for defaulting, the school must notify the parent in writing that they have failed to apply for an exemption and that they failed to pay their outstanding fees within three months of being notified. Regardless, this still gives defaulting parents an additional three months to address the default.

No, in terms of section 25(12) and section 25(13) of the National Protocol on Assessment 2011, both Public and Independent Schools may not withhold an academic report for any reason. Section 25(12) states that the parents or guardians have the right of access to report cards of their children.

Yes, in terms of the definition of “parent” in section 1 of SASA, a school may demand the payment of school fees from both of the parents of a learner. It is imperative to note that, both parents are responsible for their child’s education. Regardless of whether parents are married / not married / divorced, they are jointly and severally liable.

If the parents are divorced and the divorce order, for example, instructs the father to pay maintenance or the child’s school fees, the school is still in a position to demand payment of school fees from both parents as the order is binding on those party to the divorce proceedings. As the school is not party to these proceedings, they do not have to abide to the order.