It is that time of the year when parents with kids in pre-school start registering their kids for Grade 1. If this is your first child and you don’t have anyone to ask about the actual cost of grade 1 fees, you might want to start doing the homework. Your child could be in that school for the next seven years so it is important that you know the total cost of sending a child to a school. Below is the example of additional monthly costs and as you can see, these can be as high as the monthly school fees.  

School fees – R4 050 paid monthly.

Additional monthly fees

1. R1 900 – After-care fees. It might be necessary if you are working as school finishes around 13h00. They also help with homework
2. R765 – Lunch at after-care
3. R850 – Swimming this is a life skill to ensure that your child is safe and to prevent drowning. It might be necessary to pay for private lessons. If you can, let your child take lessons from age 2, before they have fears
4. R1 800 – Transport  if your child’s school is not in the same direction as where you work, this might be necessary. Also to avoid traffic & ensure your child is at school on time daily
5. R350 – Drama lessons these are optional but would help with building confidence in your child
6. R900 – Extra Maths is optional but would help your child excel in Maths & later on open up more opportunities for career choices
7. R900 – Additional tutoring such as English is optional but could help your child to learn to read and write faster and thus excel at school. Reading to your child is also important.

Total = R7 465

There are other extra lessons that you might want your child to take part in e.g. Dance is a nice activity and I believe could also help with your child’s self confidence and to have broader friendships. Music lessons or some other instrument, etc.…

The extra fees are much higher than the school fees. At ThuthukaSA, we help parents invest in offshore tax free investments to optimise returns on their investments.

Many parents invest with us so they can pay school fees easily. Other parents also invest for varsity fees. Contact us to invest for your child’s fees as well.