Parents up in arms over unequal Chiswick school fees

MaltaToday is informed that Chiswick House School has recently taken on a number of students from Little Angels School, which has ceased operations from its premises in Birkirkara.

However, angry parents complained that while the former LAS students would be receiving CHS’ full complement of services, along with free school books, they would be doing so at fees far below what CHS charged all other parents.

The reason for this, MaltaToday is informed, is because parents of children formerly attending LAS and were taken on by CHS were admitted at LAS’s fee prices, which are only roughly half that of CHS.

The standard Junior 6 fee for Chiswick House School and St Martin’s College students stands at roughly €1,200 per term, while that paid by former Little Angels’ students stood at roughly €650 per term, MaltaToday is informed. Out of LAS total student body of 200, CHS took on around 60 students.

Additionally, parents wishing to have their children admitted into CHS were required to pay a €1,630.56 (Lm700) registration fee to book a spot. LAS students taken on by CHS were exempt from paying this fee.

A newsletter, issued by CHS and SMC principal Patrick Tabone dated 21 June, announced the agreement between LAS and CMS, and said the two schools would be “merging” operations.

While assuring parents that current class size limits would not be affected and, where necessary, new classes would be opened, the differentiated fees were however not mentioned in the newsletter.

MaltaToday is informed that parents whose children attend CHS became aware of the school’s arrangement with LAS regarding lower fees only when a parent whose children were moving from LAS to CHS revealed that Chiswick would be charging LAS’s old fees.

Following queries and complaints by parents from as early as mid-July, CHS and SMC principal Patrick Tabone called a meeting on 10 August, where the issue was discussed with the concerned parents.

Contacted by MaltaToday, Tabone confirmed the differentiated fees, saying that “given the differential in fees between the two schools and the context in which the agreement was made, CHS agreed that the parents of formerly LAS pupils would pay the original LAS fee that they were committed to (and had in many cases already paid) in their first year in their new school.”

He added that “this fee will subsequently rise so that after three years they will be paying the full CHS fee.”

Tabone also said that CHS’ regulations regarding maximum number of students per classroom will not be affected by this agreement “in any way.”

He however argued that the increased population at CHS and St Martin’s College would mean “a significant positive impact on these two schools and their sustainability at a time when the independent sector has been under heavy pressure due to a number of factors, not least a dramatic increase in fully subsidised Church School places.”

He said that through the agreement, “the parents of the current pupils would in coming years pay less in fees than they would otherwise have to”, adding that constantly rising costs in the educational sector “had to be a strong consideration.”

He added that this objective “to keep the schools affordable for all parents so that their children may continue to receive the excellent education they deserve” was the main motivation for the agreement.

A parent contacted by MaltaToday however insists that information had been withheld.

“What we are irked about the most is the secrecy and the deviousness of it all,” the parent said, adding that had the parents not found out for themselves, the “discriminatory” fees might have remained under wraps.

“We would have been less upset for sure had they told us themselves,” the parent added.

The parent said that the widespread anger was largely due to how the fees some parents are paying are being reduced to nothing, given how other parents are paying far less and receiving however the same service.

“Will LAS children be receiving 50% less teacher attention, 50% less education, 50% less school time?” the parent asked.

“I understand LAS’ parents would be going from €600 to €1,200,” the parent said, but added that keeping the fees the same is not the answer and did not do justice to parents already paying those fees.

“Why not opt for a compromise?” the parent asked, suggesting that CHS could reduce existing CHS fees by 25% while raising fees for children shifting from LAS to CHS by 25%.

The parent added that the problem would not stop with those students who are moving from LAS to CHS this year, adding that any siblings of those pupils starting kindergarten within two to three years would benefit from the same conditions.

The parent also said that given a LAS registration period that closed on 15 July 2011, any child born since the start of 2011 and registered by the deadline would also benefit from the conditions when joining CHS within the next four years.

In the meantime, MaltaToday is informed that Tabone has called a subsequent information meeting for parents to discuss the agreement, to be held on 1 September.