Where Have All The Parents Gone?

Brightstart Montessori School’s annual general meeting was held on Tuesday 2nd of February at the Turnhalle to give parents information on the school’s progress and their future plans. The meeting was chaired by Lindsay Schroeter who talked us through the school’s financial performance from 2009, in which they just scraped by. 65% of the school’s income is spent on teachers’ salaries and the majority of income is generated from school fees, which amounted to less in 2009 because of fewer students attending the school. In 2007 there were 96 students, 2008 there were 91, 2009 the number dipped to 88 and has risen again this year to 96. The school is glad to see that even through these difficult financial times, residents of Luderitz are still realising the importance of good education. The monthly expenditure is N$77106.72 which is just under the generated income each month.
The pre-primary section is diminishing rather than growing like the rest of the school, which is a shock as the teachers and the committee feel this is the most vital stage of education. It has been proven that between birth and five years of age is the optimal time for a child to learn. Within the pre-primary children learn life skills such as independence and they develop self-esteem. Studies also show that children retain what they have learned better in a hands-on environment, and Brightstart provides all this as well as teaching concentration, manipulation, phonics and basic maths.
All the parents who attended the meeting were happy to discover that school fees will not be increasing at the start of the year, the situation will be reviewed again in June but they are expected to remain the same price. Brightstart is able to do this because government schools are overcrowded so the children have to go to private schools, which means that the government assists the private schools financially.
Throughout the year Brightstart put on many fundraising events in Luderitz to raise money for maintenance and building of school properties. Events include the Snoek Derby, the Crayfish Festival, Anything That Floats and Entrepreneurs Day. The staff at the school and the school board are repeatedly disappointed with parents’ assistance with these events, as it always ends up being the same few people that help, they were also disappointed with the turn out to the AGM which had no more than forty parents there when there should have been nearer a hundred. Fundraising in 2009 raised a total of N$59650.37, which on average is between N$3000- N$4000 an event, in 2010 the school hope to raise a lot more.

Another purpose of the AGM was to elect new board members and trustees. Board members meet every third Tuesday of the month for an hour and a half. Three new members were elected with a bit of persuasion. Being a trustee doesn’t take up any time, they are just there to give financial assistance if the school needs it, which it shouldn’t do as if they ever get in trouble the school fees can still be increased.
Despite struggling financially this year, the school has achieved a lot, predominantly getting government approval to educate grade 10 children, and opening their first grade 8 class. The school has big plans for future projects, likely to be introduced in 2011. They plan to appoint a fully qualified grade 8 and 9 teacher for their new class, as well as hopefully build a new room or purchase a new property for the class. The new building would also house a principal’s office. They also hope to improve the school’s playground and sports facilities, as well as create an infants and toddlers group.
The attendees had an opportunity to discuss issues brought up in the meeting and raise questions and ideas. The first of which was a suggestion that parents with more than one child attending the school should get a discount on the second child, or the third child. The board are going to consider discussing it but other parents disagreed with this point, saying that Brightstart is the cheapest private school in the country, and that if some people got a discount it could make the school bankrupt. Members of staff raised the issue of parent’s contribution to events and their general involvement with the school being poor, and if they want extracurricular activities and good school premises they would have to help more. The last suggestion that came from parents was the amount of sport the school provides for the children, at the moment there are out of school lessons in ballet, squash and karate run or organised by parents and teachers will be doing athletics with the children this year.