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Two South African governing body associations have advised the country’s 3,000 fee-paying schools not to increase prices for next year.
The Sunday Times reported that the Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa (Isasa), which represents 793 member schools including Hilton, Michaelhouse and Kearsney College, confirmed that for the first time its members will not impose any fee increases or an increase for below inflation.
Additionally, independent school education providers Spark Schools and AdvTech have indicated that they will not increase fees next year.
Paul Colditz, executive director of the Federation of South African School Governing Bodies, said that the financial difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic had hit private schools more than public schools. “I think you will see a decrease in enrollment in private schools next year,” he said.
Anthea Cereseto, national executive director of the Governing Body Foundation, said the federation does not advise schools not to increase fees, but to “limit them as much as possible.”
“We would consider something unwise if an ordinary public school did not take into account the economic situation of families. We are really emphasizing the cuts and delaying the implementation of the proposed projects. “
Price increase
Data of a BusinessTech’s The 2020 private schools analysis found that the average increase in fees among the 20 most expensive private schools is around 7%.
When BusinessTech started tracking the most expensive schools in 2014, only one school (Hilton College) was priced over R200,000 for boarding and tuition; Now, in 2020, more than 30 schools have moved into that price range.
Hilton, and nearby MichaelHouse, have since moved into the R300,000 per year category.
As prices continue to rise, parents begin to feel the pressure, with financial difficulties cited as one of the key reasons children drop out of private schools.
As a result of the rise and continued fears of the coronavirus, a growing number of parents are choosing to homeschool their children, homeschooling provider Impaq said.
The group reported a total of 19,000 students in March, and this number increased to 24,000 at the end of August, mainly driven by demand for more structured learning, said Louise Schoonwinkel of Impaq.
When the hard shutdown began and schools across the country were closed; many parents had to take aspects of their children’s education into their own hands, Schoonwinkel said.
“While many teachers tried to adapt to online education, the reality is that this was not the main competence of many schools. Teachers had to brush up on teaching skills online and even use some technology for the first time, ”he said.
In addition to the health crisis, families around the world had to deal with an economic crisis this year, Schoonwinkel said.
“In this context, many parents who have traditionally sent their children to private schools have found that they have had to seek more affordable options while maintaining a high level of education for their children.”
Crawford Schools owner AdvTech and Curro have spoken of the success of their online learning programs launched in the last month after the initial Covid-19 outbreak and the resulting temporary closure of schools.
Read: This is the school dropout rate in South Africa
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