High cost of private education

Increase linked to inflation

PRIVATE schools in South Africa will ask almost a king’s ransom for the privilege of studying there, following a steep increase in their fees for next year. Among the private schools which are set for a huge increase is Diocesan College (Bishops) which intends to increase its fees from R125 350 to R137 260, St Stithians In Lyme Park, Sandton, up from R123 910 to R131 970, private boarding school St Albans up to R130 470 from R120 900 and at King Edward VII in Houghton, where fees will increae to R47 000 from R43 250. The current cost of putting a child through South Africa’s private education system can be around R2.2 million.

“In the last quarter of each year, and in some instances a little earlier, independent schools announce their fee increases to their parent bodies. As with any other industry, the cost of running schools increases on an annual basis,” said the executive director for The Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa (Isasa), Lebogang Montjan.

He said, in general, fee increases are linked to the inflation rate. “It should be noted that education inflation is higher than general inflation. If, as a result of a devaluing currency, inflation increases, this will have an impact on education

AS WITH ANY OTHER INDUSTRY, THE COST OF RUNNING SCHOOLS INCREASES ON AN ANNUAL BASIS

inflation and therefore affect fee increases,” he added.

Isasa is an association of 808 member schools in southern Africa. It’s one of the oldest and largest private school associations in Africa.

Education activist Hendrick Makaneta said fee increases will have a negative impact on students. “It is our wish that government should do everything it can to keep the doors of learning open by ensuring students who are destitute are looked after,” he said.

Makaneta added that private schools should be regulated “to ensure that they do not charge exorbitant fees”.