|
|
|
Media Info
 Schools putting pressure on children of debt-burdened parents
14 October 2008
… children not being allowed to go to matric dances, being threatened they will not be allowed to exams or humiliated in front of classmates
As the debt burden on South African consumers grows with close to 30 000 applications for new debt counselling a year and more than 6-million consumers in serious financial trouble, schools are starting to put pressure on those children whose parents have not paid school fees.
In one instance parents of a child with cancer who lack medical aid and have become bankrupted by the child’s medical bills, were under severe pressure from the school until a Consumer Assist debt counsellor intervened. “They then wrote off the debt of that child, but the second child at the same school continues to receive pink slips in class which all the children know means her parents haven’t paid for her school fees. The school is insisting the parents pay R2 000 cash and they simply don’t have it,” Consumer Assist debt counsellor, Ulande Janse van Rensburg said.
This is despite constitutional provisions ensuring the right to education and oft-stated government policy that children whose parents cannot afford to pay should not be excluded from school.
“A very difficult situation has developed,” Consumer Assist managing director, Andre Snyman said, “on one level while government has said schools must not exclude children, the schools complain there are an increasingly high number of parents unable to pay and schools say they are not getting enough assistance to cover this burden from government.
“And then children become the victims with teachers often harassing the children or humiliating them in front of their peers. It has become widespread that schools are refusing to allow children to attend the matric dance if their parents have not paid school fees and for many children this is a deeply distressing undeserved punishment. A child may have worked long and hard but he or she should not be accountable for a parent’s incapacity to pay.
“Ways need to be found to assist the schools more as the debt crisis deepens, but also to encourage them not to humiliate or punish the children,” Snyman who is also the father of two children said. “Debt counselling can restructure debt to ensure the schools will be paid but this is often a delayed process as we also try to ensure families do not lose their homes or cars too.”
Roux Visser, 45, of Pretoria worked in the accounts department of a major hospital for many years before taking a retrenchment package and opening a butchery, but with no previous experience in the industry he encountered problems and the butcher closed. He was without work for six months and the family relied on his wife’s small salary. “We were without water and lights and a large store we had an account with to buy groceries started hounding us. I have two boys aged 13 and 16 and the most distressing thing for all of us was having to apply for a subsidy to ensure their school fees were paid and they would not come under further pressure at school.”
Visser started work in a new job a month ago and with the aid of debt counselling through Consumer Assist he and his wife and family are trying to rebuild their life. “It’s a very difficult process, but I’m very grateful we applied and were accepted for debt counselling, it’s changed our lives and given us hope.” (He is prepared to be interviewed by the media, ask Snyman for details)
Janse van Rensburg gave another example of a two sisters in matric who were excluded from the matric dance because their parents had not been able to afford school fees. “These were lovely children who had really tried so hard, I couldn’t bear how upset they were so I phoned everyone I knew to raise the funds for the school fees, as well as the R350 each for the matric dance and enough money to buy them dresses.
“It’s becoming deeply disturbing to see how many families are in serious financial straits and how it impacts on the children. It is unfair that they should be made to suffer because of their parents’ difficulties.”
Snyman said Consumer Assist was assisting a number of major financial institutions, retailers and industry with financial wellness programmes for their staff. “It is really critical that companies ensure their staff knows how to get assistance. The National Credit Act came in at the right time to help those severely indebted and to prevent more getting into trouble, but the global financial crisis is going to push many more who were just managing over the edge.”
Consumer Assist is the umbrella organisation for more than half of all of South Africa’s National Credit Regulator approved debt counsellors. It has a highly interactive website www.consumerassist.co.za with a debt calculator where within a few minutes you can calculate your debt situation and see whether or not you need to use a debt counsellor.
If the debt calculator shows you are in serious financial trouble, the website will direct you to a debt counsellor close to you. A 24-hour call centre 0861 21 22 23 operates 365 days of the year where basic questions can be answered and too, where agents can help direct you to a debt counsellor.
“Consumer Assist’s debt counsellors abide by the National Credit Act guidelines,” Consumer Assist media liaison officer, James Seele said: “They contact everyone the debtor owes money to so that they delay action against the debtor. The counsellor helps the debtor structure payments so they pay debts off faster – while maintaining an acceptable lifestyle. Debts that might have taken five years to pay off can be cleared within three years.”
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION www.consumerassist.co.za 0861 21 22 23 debt counselling call centre
Andre Snyman - CEO - Consumer Assist
aurelia.espag@consumerassist.co.za / 011 654 6018 (Languages: English, Afrikaans)
Source: MediaOnLine
|
Debt Counselling 
Employers 
Helping Others 
