Family keen to see cut in school fees

Stefan and Vicki Nogaj, of Tauranga, with their children, from left, Nathaniel, Kadin and Mikayla, want the cost of school activities to come down. Picture / Supplied

Stefan and Vicki Nogaj spend thousands of dollars a year on education for their three children.

So the Tauranga couple, who are on two incomes, want to see the $1.44 billion set aside for education over the next four years bring down the cost of school activities.

Mr Nogaj did not want to see "the money sitting amongst the teachers, staff and buildings or whatever".

He said: "I want it to lessen the amount of money parents are having to pay for so many extra circular activities."

Two children are at primary school, one at intermediate.

Mr Nogaj supported funding for "vulnerable kids" but "there are a lot of hard-working families like ourselves that are really struggling and we want our kids to have great opportunities."

Often "ridiculous" fees were charged for everything from school trips to sports, drama and arts, he said.

"Money is one thing but schools need to be sensible with the demands that they place on families and it doesn't matter what the decile is, it makes no difference."

He liked the Budget because "it is sensible for now because we don't want to see this country going into ridiculous debt because it's not productive".

He also supported the extra funding going into housing.

- Bay of Plenty Times