Coronavirus Disease 2019 Graphic. (U.S. Air Force Graphic by Rosario “Charo” Gutierrez)
Education is very rarely out of the news and in these very unusual times it remains the case. Debates rage about the reopening of schools, and the various ways different sectors of the system have reacted to the lockdown.
The effects of lockdown on schools
Independent schools have by and large applied their greater resource per pupil to online teaching, but from a parent’s perspective, that is not all that they’re paying for. Consequently, raising the obvious question: ‘What about the fees that we’re paying?’
The schools themselves are very aware of this (hopefully) short term issue and are taking various measures such as reducing the fees previously attributed to transport costs, lunches and other ancillary services. Others are freezing the annual inflationary fee increases. It is very much a juggling act between keeping all of their services available (by continuing to pay the people who provide them) and giving parents value for money. Salaries, particularly teacher salaries, constitute a huge proportion of a school’s budget especially since ‘the majority of independent schools look to match or better the pay for teachers in the state-maintained sector’… (NEU 10/01/2019)
Looking forward
There is much speculation about how this Covid-19 crisis will change our way of life – more working from home, less travel, less stress and more family time means re-evaluating what we want for our children.
When considering private education the immediate focus for most is “can we afford it?” Private School fees can easily become one of the biggest expenditures a family faces – especially when there is more than one child to consider. What is often forgotten in this decision making is that children have a habit of becoming adults very quickly, and that young parents move on to become “empty nesters” equally as fast. Each with a very different set of priorities.
What next
At SFIA we have almost 70 years of expertise in school fees planning. We have helped many families by making the fees easier to manage in the short term whilst mitigating the longer term impacts. If you’d like to know more please contact us on 01628 566777 or webenquiry@sfia.co.uk. We’d be happy to discuss your individual requirements.
