Curro cashes in on Model C overcrowding

CURRO Holdings is building five new schools at a cost of R400-million to cater for the huge demand for private schooling in South Africa.

The schools will bring the number of schools owned by the JSElisted company to 31.

The company also bought Pretoria’s Woodhill College, for R180-million, and the Northern Academy in Polokwane, Limpopo, for R157-million.

At least half of the 22 000 children attending Curro schools are from middle-class African families.

The chief executive of Curro Holdings, Dr Chris van der Merwe, said the plan was to build between five and seven schools a year until 2020 so that they had at least 80 schools.

Van der Merwe said Curro schools, which levy fees of R2 500 a month for primary pupils and R3 500 a month for high school pupils, were the equivalent of former Model C schools.

Pupils in Grades 10 to 12 have a choice of 23 subjects. Lessons are offered in English and Afrikaans, with a maximum of 25 pupils per class. Another category of schools, known as the Meridian schools, of which there are four, caters for 35 children per class. Lessons are offered only in English.

Van der Merwe said when they built a school close to a former Model C school, they knew that between 5% and 10% of those parents would want to send their children to the new school.

“It’s not because the standards are bad or they are unhappy with the school; it’s just that they are getting overcrowded. They want a teacher to understand the specific needs of the child, and in small classes one can do that.”