Teachers try to find creative solutions
In practice, it is largely up to the individual school and teacher to find solutions so that out-of-pocket costs at school do not exclude anyone from the community. But it is hard to avoid more wealthy parents setting a high level, teachers say in an interview study.
Teachers in the folkeskole experience considerable uncertainty about parents' out-of-pocket payment for costs in and around their child's schooling. When it comes to class activities and class trips, for example, the teachers report that the level of spending is mainly set locally – at the individual school, in the individual class team or by the individual teacher. The teachers therefore judge that in practice there are no clear guidelines for how much each family is expected to contribute. This is shown by an interview study Maple has carried out among 12 class teachers at schools with different social profiles.
Several teachers point out that the level of the class's activities and costs is often set by resourceful, engaged parents who have the time and energy to take the initiative. Even though the intention is good, it can lead to a financial level that not all families are able to keep up with.
And when some students don’t bring pocket money with them on school camps and class outings to, e.g., the cinema or the beach, the teachers say it can lead to vulnerable situations where these students quickly stand out from the rest of the class.
“When we go to Berlin, time is set aside for the students to walk around the shopping street and spend some money; last time we made sure that one of the students was given some pocket money so that he wouldn't stand out that way. I actually think it was the teachers team that stepped in and paid,” says a teacher.
Differing focus on parental costs
At schools in more affluent areas, the teachers typically find, according to the study, that there is not much focus on the level of parental costs among management, the board, teachers or parents. Parents often have resources to offer – both time and money – for example in connection with joint trips or social events.
On the contrary, teachers at schools in socially disadvantaged areas typically find that everyone at the school is attentive to the framework for out-of-pocket costs. Here, according to the teachers, it is more often the school than the parent group that takes the initiative for social activities, and consideration for families with strained finances is usually built into both academic and social activities. For example, students may be able to borrow calculators or a bike for joint cycling trips. Social activities that do not cost money are often chosen, or where the class can collect money together.
“If you set a level of 200 kroner, you would already have cut out half of them. So most of our events are the kind where you go to a park and bring your own food and play rounders – instead of going bowling,” says a teacher at a school where there are big differences in parents' financial resources.
Outside the school's domain
The teachers stress that they do a great deal to ensure that all students can be part of the class community – whatever the family's finances. For example, they go to management to find support options, apply to foundations, obtain equipment to lend out, organise joint collections for social activities or let students take part without paying when that is possible. Some teachers also mention that in individual cases they pay smaller expenses out of their own pocket.
But they are also aware that it can be difficult to do anything about the cost of activities that do not take place under the school's responsibility, for example activities arranged by parents or by the students themselves.
At the same time, the teachers express doubt about how far they should involve themselves in discussions about the class fund and other parent-run expenses. Several teachers say that the parents do not want their involvement, and that can make it difficult for the teachers to keep the level of spending down, even though they know it can become a barrier to some students' participation.
A teacher at a school in an affluent area also points out that parents under financial pressure often have no influence on the level of spending:
“The parents who have a problem paying into the class fund don't always come to a parents' meeting where it's on the agenda. So they don't get a say in setting the level. So it can quickly end up being the slightly more resourceful ones who say that they're okay with it.”