Parents have paid thousands of dollars to send their children to private schools, but face a range of additional costs, including technology taxes and stationery fees, according to couriermail.com.au. The total cost of these miscellaneous items also amounted to hundreds of yuan.
Duyu`s independent school in Brisbane has imposed an increasing amount of extra money on parents to cover the cost of upgrading, camping and even photocopying the school`s buildings.
Although Brisbane grammar schools, Brisbane girls` grammar schools, St Margaret`s Anglican girls` schools and Stuartholme School all began to adopt a "full-cost" structure, other schools told parents that, in addition to tuition fees, They also have to pay for other expenses.
Some independent schools cost thousands of dollars in addition to tuition fees, making it difficult for parents to make clear decisions about which schools they can afford to pay.
Technology tax is now a common fee in private schools in Kunzhou, with high school students in St Peter`s College in Indooroopilly paying a technology tax of $100 a year, while at Brisbane Boys High School (Brisbane Boys') in Toowong College), students pay a technology tax of up to 1200 yuan a year.
Some schools give parents the option of making voluntary donations for building maintenance funds, but many also charge infrastructure fees on a mandatory basis.
South Brisbane-based St Laurence`s College levies a mandatory $196 construction tax per semester on each family. St Joseph`s College charges parents $250 a semester contribution tax on financial contributions.
Some schools also charge parents for stationery, including photocopying and borrowing.
Parents of seventh-and twelfth-graders in Anglican Church Grammar School were told they had to pay $200 in book tax and another $320 in school stationery bags. Somerville House spent $500 a year on stationery, and parents had to pay for it.
Regular and course activities are also frequently charged, including school camping and compulsory music and sports.
Parents of Padua College,12 grade students in Kedron are charged an annual activity fee of 2025 yuan.
12th graders at St Aidan`s Anglican Girls School charge a fee of 494 yuan for activities, student cards and school diary fees.
Sue Kloeden, executive director of the independent school parent network in Kunzhou, says parents are now increasingly favouring the model of full-cost school fees.
"it`s clear at a glance what the total cost of the school is," Kloeden said. "parents can make it easier for them to compare costs, otherwise it`s not clear how they feel."
Most parents do a lot of work before getting their children in school, but some are still unaware of the extra costs, Kloeden said.
But David Robertson, executive director of the Queensland Independent Schools Association, said private schools were open and transparent in their fees, and details of tuition fees and other charges would be publicly posted on the school`s website.
School fees are an important part of the information parents seek, and schools are ready to provide that information to families. Many independent schools in Kunzhou make public their fees on their websites, both compulsory and non-compulsory, which are updated on an annual basis. "
When parents send their children to an independent school, they sign a school contract and the cost information is included in the additional terms of the contract, Robertson said.
However, he also points out that many schools are now adopting a full-cost policy, including tuition, sports, technical fees, grade camping and class activities.
Catherine Fitzgerald and Brendan Fitzgerald sent all four children to private schools, taking into account both extra costs and expenses when choosing schools.
"there are a lot of small sums that you wouldn`t have thought of when you sent your children to school."
