Four top public schools in South Africa show they are world-class

·30 Sep 2025

The An Die Musik 2025 concert, featuring Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool, Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool, Pretoria Boys High, and Pretoria High School for Girls, is a world-class display of talent.

The An Die Musik concert is an annual four-schools concert and musical collaboration between the schools.

It has been a tradition in Pretoria since 1988, featuring orchestral and choral performances by the students from the four schools.

Tickets for the An Die Musik concert, which are available on four evenings, are always sold out within hours, paying testament to the event’s popularity.

This year, the An Die Musik concert was hosted by the Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool, affectionately known as Affies.

It is a public Afrikaans-medium high school for boys, founded in 1920 by Jan Joubert and Reverend Chris Neethling.

It was joined by its sister school, Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool, which was also established in 1920. It was started in the house of General PJ Joubert.

Their two English counterparts, Pretoria Boys High and Pretoria High School for Girls, are the other two schools at the An Die Musik concert.

Pretoria Boys High School is a public, tuition-charging, English-medium high school for boys situated in Brooklyn, Pretoria.

It was founded in 1901 by Alfred Milner and enrols over 1,500 pupils, including 300 boarders, from South Africa and beyond, managed by about 100 full-time staff.

Its sister school, Pretoria High School for Girls, is an English-medium high school for girls founded in 1902 by Edith Aitken.

The Pretoria High School for Girls is one of the top schools in Gauteng in terms of academic achievement and is listed in the Department of Education’s top 100 schools.

Influential people and organisations support it, and the daughters of many ministers and other influential people attend the school.

The An Die Musik 2025 concert

BusinessTech attended the An Die Musik 2025 concert, and it was striking how well-organised the event was.

Despite being held at Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool school hall, it was on par with many professional concerts at theatres.

It was equally impressive that four public schools, all within a one-kilometre radius, had a choir and a full orchestra.

The quality of the choirs and the orchestras, which all tackled challenging musical pieces, was exceptional.

The packed audiences, who included both parents and outsiders, loved the performances and credited the learners for their exceptional talent.

The choirs and orchestras from Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool, Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool, Pretoria Boys High, and Pretoria High School for Girls were brilliant.

They demonstrated that South Africa still has world-class public schools, which can serve as a model for other schools to achieve a similar level.