Should private schools be legally entitled to attach the parents’ home to enforce payment of school fees? The Witness reports this question is under consideration in the KZN High Court (Pietermaritzburg) where Judge President Achmat Jappie has reserved judgment in a matter he described as having ‘very wide’ implications.

Advocate Ashleigh Jennings had urged the judge to grant an order adjourning an application by St Charles College to declare the property belonging to the parents of two former pupils at the school executable, pending the outcome of a challenge they want to bring in the Constitutional Court.

The couple allege that Section 41 (6) of the SA Schools Act is unconstitutional because it precludes a public school from attaching the dwelling in which a parent resides for purposes of enforcing school fees owed, but the Act does not prohibit independent schools from doing the same thing.

Jennings argued that the section of the Act is ‘discriminatory’ because it treats parents of children in public schools differently from those attending independent schools and infringes the right of all people to education, equality and dignity enshrined in the Constitution.

However, Advocate JP Pretorius – acting for St Charles College – said the bottom line was that ‘wealthy’ or high-income parents have a choice whether to send their children to independent or public schools. ‘It’s a decision based on affordability,’ he said. He said low-income parents do not have such a choice.

Full report in The Witness (subscription needed)