Brabant school group abolishes parental contribution
Parents with a child at one of the 27 primary schools of the SAAM school foundation in Brabant will no longer have to pay for school trips, museum visits or the school camp from next school year. The school group is abolishing the voluntary parental contribution.
Picture: Type tank
Sandra Beuving, chair of the SAAM Executive Board, says this. She recently notified all parents of the decision. Beuving: “We assume mutual solidarity and do not want to exclude children based on the income of their parents. Finances should not be an obstacle to their chances. ”
'Voluntarily'
Within SAAM, primary schools ask different parental contributions and that could sometimes amount to a considerable amount, according to the chairman of the board. In the school group they noticed that the voluntary parental contribution was very often not perceived that way. “The parent councils are about it and it often turned out to be complicated when there were parents who did not pay, while the others did. Reminders were sent. We do not think this mechanism is appropriate. ”
Education
Beuving believes that school trips and other activities are part of the education and that is why they are now paid from the education money. “Children learn during these outings to do things together. It's actually strange that we make parents responsible for that. ” The president cannot say exactly how much it will cost, but he can say that there is 'room for it in the budget.'
Initiative Act
National politics also pays attention to the voluntary parental contribution. For example, MPs Lisa Westerveld (GroenLinks) and Peter Kwint (SP) submitted a private member's bill to the Lower House last March, stating that children may not be excluded from school trips and other activities organized by the school. At the moment, this still happens if parents do not pay the voluntary parental contribution. Next week, the House will discuss the bill. The AOb supports the law and, together with other educational organizations, wrote a letter to MPs calling for their consent.
End of 2018 wrote the Education Magazine that primary schools demand an ever higher parental contribution. In five years' time, the contribution turned out to have increased by more than 20 percent from 41 euros to 50 euros.
