Would you go into debt for your childs secondary education?

[prama]

hmmm - just to clarify...
are we talking about private schools from primary onwards or just secondary?

[FabFiona]

I don't know that I would go into debt for my childrens education.

I went to a catholic school growing up. The fees at that school were not very expensive, certainly not like the private schools in the area that charged around 15K - 20K per year.

I have very strong memories of my parents struggling to pay my school fees around the time that my dad got sick then lost his job. I hated that I used to get called to the office to get a 'special envelope' from the accounts department. I would have been around 14, 15 years old and I still remember the sick feelings of guilt. I loved my school, but I hated the fact that my parents were stressed about my fees. I remember investigating scholarships at private schools on my own to try and take the burden off them. I didn't want to go to the public school that was over our back fence, because it had a terrible reputation for behaviour and academic performance.

In the end I'm pretty sure some of the fees got waived due to our circumstances and then they went on a payment plan. Being a catholic school, they were very good about the whole thing and I think the problem in hindsight was that my parents didn't communicate their situation to the school.

Now, these fees were not expensive - as an adult I've spent more on a couch than what the fees cost per year. But it was the debt aspect and the stress that it brought onto our family.

Anyway, perhaps a different perspective to the public v private debate that's been going on in recent posts but given the question was originally about debt I thought I'd share.

Cheers,
Fiona

[Bathsheba]

Another beautifully balanced post FlowerChild I totally agree: the most important thing to keep an open mind. Parents that make up their mind that only one system or the other is going to best for their children, I think, are losing an opportunity for their children.