Cash strapped expat parents requesting discounts from independent schools

Expats with children enrolled in international schools are looking to discounts covering the long coronavirus-linked closures.

Taking the UK as an example, its private schools were closed March 20, thus allowing the pupils to return home just a week early. Bills for the summer semester are now being sent out, with many expat parents mulling the chance of discounts on the hefty fees due. Foreign students unable to fly home due to lockdowns were forced to stay and be looked after by the schools, with some 15,000 from China and Hong Kong amongst the first affected.

Most worldwide international schools are making up for the lack of real time education by introducing online lessons, although the costs of building and grounds maintenance as well as the 80 per cent of salary payments to their teachers aren’t going away any time soon. Another issue is that, although the vast majority of parents are comparatively wealthy, those heading up businesses severely affected by the pandemic may have problems meeting next term’s bills.

According to the Independent Schools Council, a UK-based trade body for 5,000 such schools, some education institutions are now offering discounts of between 10 and 30 per cent. Others are postponing invoices so as not to put further strain on parents, whilst a number had already sent them out before lockdowns became a worldwide norm. In the real world, the majority of independent schools are expected to incur losses, with many freezing fees until the early autumn, and online education is set to play a major part in next year’s syllabuses.