Average fee rise of 5% for day schools

AS THE 2012 school year begins, parents of Melbourne’s Jewish day school students are braced for fee rises, with an average increase of 5.1 per cent on last year.

The steepest rise was recorded at Mount Scopus Memorial College, at 6.7 per cent; a surge Rabbi James Kennard said was due to paying teachers premium rates.

“One of our highest priorities is the need to attract and retain for your children the best teachers possible. We remain committed to paying salary scales exceeding those paid to teachers in Victorian state schools,” he wrote in a letter to parents.

He also noted extra-curricular activities and the freezing of government funding as factors.

Mount Scopus charges more than $27,000 for year 12 tuition as does Bialik College, which recorded the second-highest rise at 5.8 per cent.

Private day schools popular with Jewish students, including Wesley College, Caulfield Grammar and Lauriston Girls, charge between $22,000 and $26,000 for year 12. Fees at Wesley College rose higher than any Jewish day school this year, at 7.6 per cent.

Acting principal of Bialik Gary Zelleman attributed costs at his school to the expansion of programs and improved technology across the school.

“We are introducing an e-learning program, which is a one-off additional cost absorbed into fees for year levels 7, 8 and 9. Each child is going to have their own notebook. We are fully integrating technology into the classroom rather than conducting standalone lessons,” he said.

In primary school, Sholem Aleichem is best bang for a parent’s buck at $9200 for grade 6 – less than half of the cost of some other schools. Yet it still recorded a 5.2 per cent increase for the year.

The King David School recorded a five per cent increase, rising to $24,373 for year 12, noting however that fees were inclusive of camps, swimming, excursions and capital levy.

Yeshivah and Beth Rivkah colleges, which receive the most government funding at 74 per cent of the schools’ total income, still recorded a four per cent increase.

While the colleges would not disclose their fees for this year, a spokeswoman assured The AJN that the prices parents were expected to pay would not be a barrier to the community receiving quality Jewish and general education.

“We have a robust fee remissions program so parents are only charged fees according to their individual capacity to pay,” she said.

While year 12 tuition at Leibler Yavneh College was also more than $24,000 this year, principal Roy Steinman said the 3.9 per cent increase in fees was the lowest in five years.

“This reflects our desire to make Jewish education affordable within operational constraints,” he said.

LIVIA ALBECK-RIPKA