Parents pay big bucks for private schooling in face of failing education system

Last week, Curro announced a 15% increase in revenue for the first half of the year, ending June 2022. This as a result of the increased learner intakes across its 77 campuses.

These results are further indicative of the inclination of parents, in the last few years, opting for private and semi-private school offerings, believing that the South African public school system is beyond redemption.

A few years back, a study by Nelda Mouton – an associate professor at North West University Business School, noted that when analysing the school system in South Africa it became clear that the education system was flawed, with poorly performing teachers, poor work ethics, lack of community and parental support, poor control by education authorities, poor support for teachers and low levels of accountability.

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Fast forward years later, these conditions have been proliferated by the squandering of funds at higher levels, together with the unfavourable conditions brought on by Covid-19. As a result, society is now seeing parents opting to water down their lifestyles, by cutting out various other expenses, in order to afford an exorbitant private school education.

One parent said that there was no way she would consider sending her child to a public school.

“We would rather live every day eating simple meals and spending our grocery money on school fees than send my daughter to a public school in South Africa. The lack of discipline, the brutal violence in schools and the low moral values amongst pupils – where teachers can just do nothing about it – gives us nightmares to even think about. I will not throw my little girl to the wolves,” she said.

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Even Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, acknowledged the challenges that schools are facing.

In her address at the SADTU Free State Principals’ Forum in July this year, she said: “I shudder to imagine what it means to be a principal in 2022, amidst the learning losses of the past two years occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Despite the unfavourable environment under which the principals in the ordinary public schools’ function, I urge all of you to focus on the core, not the peripherals.”

So what is the Department of Basic Education doing about it?

Despite Minister Motshekga’s efforts to get the public schooling sector on track, parents still argue that these efforts are minimal – being that it was 2022 and a number of schools were still battling with improper infrastructure and basic sanitation.

In a press release, the Department of Basic Education revealed that it had completed 1 040 sanitation projects across schools in the country, with 13 more expected to be completed by 2023. But, Motshekga had also said in recent reports that money needed to build proper infrastructure to address the issue of overcrowding at schools was still not available.

What are parents’ options with regard to their children’s education?

For the most part, parents say that they feel like their hands are tied and there is only one option at their disposal: private schooling facilities. This comes at a price though. A very high price. School fees for learners between Grade 1 and Grade 7 ranges from around R96 000 to R115 000 per year.

For parents who cannot even think of affording fees like this, they – together with teachers –  try take pro-active approaches to improve the conditions at their children’s schools. One teacher in  eMbalenhle, Phindile Sibande of Ikusasalethu Secondary School, fundraised money to buy 130 chairs for learners in his school so that they did not have to sit on the classroom floor.

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In Tshwane, parents protested and shutdown Sediba Sa Thuto Primary School, citing overcrowding. Parents demanded prefab structures be sent to help solve the problem. Their pleas were eventually heard by the Education Department.  

For now, there is little hope from parents that the issue of the failing education system would be addressed by the State. But the private sector is doing more to play its part.

Recently, Anglo American launched an education programme, in partnership with the Department of Basic Education, to improve outcomes for learners in 100 early childhood development sites and 100 primary and secondary schools local to its mining operations in the country. There is hope that more companies like the mining giants will pick up the baton and help to bring the education system in the country up to speed.