WESTERN CAPE MEC FOR EDUCATION, Cameron Dugmore, has launched an investigation into school fees in the province.

Announcing the investigation during a media briefing this afternoon, MEC Dugmore said he was concerned that the high costs of fees in public schools compromise access to education for both poor and middle-class families.

"There is a real danger of creating de facto private schools as a result of the spiralling costs," he said.

The investigation, which is to be led by the MEC's Advisor Archie Lewis, will be two-fold.

The immediate part of the investigation will be to look into the complaints raised by parents from the Milnerton and Somerset-West Primary Schools. To this end the MEC has already informed the schools about the investigation.

This will be a short investigation, and the brief of Mr Lewis would be to assess whether the process leading up to the adoption of the budget was fair and legitimate, and thus whether the said school fees were legally enforceable. This investigation has to be completed by the start of the new school term in 2005.

The second part of the investigation will be much wider. It will also look at how school governing bodies use the school fees, and will have to be completed by the end of March next year.

Said MEC Dugmore: "Our government-funded public schools need to be accessible and affordable.

"Legislation allows governing bodies, in consultation with the parents, to set school fees. We view the governing bodies as our partners in the provisioning of education for our children.

"I appreciate the contributions of those parents who actively take part in the life of the school, by attending meetings and helping with fundraising activities.

"But governing bodies must also be sensitive to those parents who genuinely cannot afford to pay. We have to draw a line when access to education is being compromised."