School Charging £25 for passport applications

hjb123

Thats definately over the top - they shouldnt charge for something that costs them nothing to do! If they do want to charge then they should say s small donation to the school funds and have a charity box or something for it to go in

Poppy9

I don't think it's over the top. It is time consuming and you do need your passport number. I have also been contacted my HO to confirm information on one of the passports I countersigned.

My OH and myself sign for our friends and neighbours for free, as do they for us.

There is a huge list of people eligible to sign them including any civil or public servant.

All I do say is if you ask a friend then don't wait for it leave it overnight with them.

Murtle

.....a journalist can sign it - that made me chuckle with all the story telling you read in the press......

Ms_Chocaholic

KMK wrote:

So maybe the school in question has had similar situations to deal with. I suppose you can argue that a teacher's time is as valuable as any other professional's time.You would not expect a solicitor to sign anything for free would you?

A few years ago me and OH needed our signatures witnessed by a solicitor. As we have never used a solicitor, just called in at the first one we came across in our local town, the solicitor came down to reception and witnessed our signature - all for free. This shows it does happen!!

With regard to signatures on passports, as I understand it, when someone signs passport application for child the person signing has to know the parent for the requisite number of years, not the child, so could OP identify someone else who could sign on this basis.

KathrynPenguin

As a teacher I am reluctant to sign these for pupils as I will be signing to say I know the parent NOT the child, as stated above. Teaching secondary school means I see parents once a year, some not even that often and I don't feel that I should sign. Also as mentioned it does take a little while, you have to write the "essay" on the back of the pictures "I certify that this is a true likeness of" and then sign it (I write way too big). Add in contact details for yourself and put your own passport number down. Kids tend to arrive with these forms a week or two before the end of term, meaning I would need to give my PERSONAL contact details not the school ones.

At the end of the day its not just time and hassle for me but something I am not really supposed to do as I don't know the parents. There is a huge list of people who can sign and most people can find someone on that list if they think hard enough. I sign plenty for family and friends but very very few for my pupils. Most parents just ask because the doctor charges anyway.

belleooo

cindiedunkley wrote:

Am I the only one who finds this kind of charge offensive?

If I had the authority to countersign someones passport for them I would do it as a good will gesture and not take advantage of the situation for financial gain.

There you are I've said my bit, whether I'm right or wrong. But I do feel better now.

It is offensive. A week doesn't go by when I am not putting my hand in my pocket and parting with cash for yet another after school club (remember when they were free?), sponsorship, school fete or raffle tickets for my childrens school. Parents only have a limited amount of funds and schools should know this.

belleooo

cindiedunkley wrote:

This extra information with puzzle you all further.

Its a special needs school with approx 150 pupils in total.

Do you think the parents of children with special needs deserve this? Lets face it life is difficult enough!

Talking as a parent of a child whom attends a special school for MLD's I don't think this is a fair charge for any parent regardless of the school their child attends. I do however hope that you find someone whom can do this for you for free or for a more reasonable fee.

Voyager2002

C_Ronaldo wrote:

it doesnt cost anything to do the countersignature, it takes what 5 secs to do it, the cheek

No longer.

With the new system, the person counter-signing has to enter quite a lot of information IN BLOCK CAPITALS, which is incredibly time-consuming. Everything has to be absolutely right, which again requires time for checking -- the process is not obvious. And now the person counter-signing must give their own passport number -- again, more time required to dig out the passport and enter a long number, again getting everything absolutely right.

When my application was counter-signed (by a colleague) it took more than half an hour. So I think that 25 pounds is a reasonable fee for the time and trouble involved. And since it is time for which the teachers are being paid, giving the money to the school is again fair enough.

superscaper

With the number of people on the list that can counter-sign I'm sure most people should be able to find friends etc that would qualify. It never even occurred to me that people would charge for it, to me it's like a job reference and I don't know many people that would charge for that service.

stugib

cindiedunkley wrote:

I am insulted on two counts:
...
2 How dare they charge for something that is required by law i.e. countersignature by an upstanding member of the community.

Turn the question around - why should they be expected to do it at all? I've got 2 teachers in my family, so I can guess what their point of view is - they almost certainly don't want to be faced with potentially 10, 50, 100 forms to fill in - it's going to infringe on their own time or their teaching or preparation time.

So, given that you can't expect professional's time for free, it then only comes down to the level of fee and who it gets paid to. I'd imagine the fee is as high as £25 to discourage as many parents as possible from asking.