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Schools
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.
Qualification fraud has been listed as one of the biggest challenges in the South African employment market.
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 has various fingerprint center's around South Africa.
To find your closest location click on your city:
Johannesburg
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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.
TPN SACE Check - this is used mostly for employment
purposes, as the applicant will need to present themselves at a TPN center for
finger printing so that we can check their criminal history
- 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.
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