South Africa’s largest private schools operator, Curro Holdings, has approximately one teacher for every 15 pupils across its network of 110 schools.<\/p>\n
By comparison, government schools in South Africa have a ratio exceeding 30 pupils for every teacher.<\/p>\n
More parents are seeking better education alternatives for their children as the country\u2019s basic education system ranks amongst the worst in the world.<\/p>\n
Census data indicates that only an estimated 48% of students who begin Grade 1 actually complete Grade 12, with most learners dropping out of school in Grade 10 and 11 \u2013 while teachers and university professors claim that pass rates of 30% to 40% are just too low to be of any value, globally.<\/p>\n
The national pass rate at state schools declined to 70.7% in 2015.<\/p>\n
Curro aims to improve the standard of education in South Africa. Its schools use the IEB curriculum, and in 2015, 724 students wrote the IEB matric exams, with 99% passing, and 82% gaining university entry.<\/p>\n
Read: Education in SA today \u2018is no better than the Bantu system\u2019: Maimane<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Private schools still only make up less than 5% of all schools in South Africa, with just over 500,000 students enrolled out of a total learner population of 12.4 million.<\/p>\n Curro, however, has ambitious plans to expand and improve on that ratio. It said in a statement on Tuesday that it remains on track to achieve its vision of 80 campuses and 200 schools by 2020.<\/p>\n The company will spend about R950 million building nine new schools, and will invest a further R500 million in expanding existing campuses across the country.<\/p>\n Curro said it currently operates at 78% of existing building capacity and at 51% of eventual capacity.<\/p>\n The 2016 investment programme includes:<\/p>\n Curro CEO Dr Chris van der Merwe noted at the start of 2016 that the group\u2019s school fees range from under R24,000 to over R90,000 a year \u2013 where 30% of students pay less than the former, Curro said. Some campuses, such as Curro Waterfall have annual fees as high as R93,600.<\/p>\n \u201cApproximately 50% of our learners attend our schools where the average school fees range between R2,000 and R4,000 per month, with 30% in schools with average school fees of less than R2,000 per month.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe balance of learners attend schools where the average school fee is in excess of R4,000 per month.\u201d<\/p>\n Private education group rakes in billions<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Best private and public schools in South Africa: cost vs peformance<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n
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\n <\/th>\n 2013<\/th>\n 2014<\/th>\n 2015<\/th>\n 2016<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n \n Campuses<\/td>\n 26<\/td>\n 32<\/td>\n 42<\/td>\n 47<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Schools<\/td>\n 72<\/td>\n 80<\/td>\n 101<\/td>\n 110<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Learners<\/td>\n 21 027<\/td>\n 28 737<\/td>\n 35 970<\/td>\n 41 393<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Average per campus<\/td>\n 809<\/td>\n 898<\/td>\n 857<\/td>\n 887<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Employees<\/td>\n 2 387<\/td>\n 3 128<\/td>\n 3 969<\/td>\n 4 606<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Teachers<\/td>\n 1 593<\/td>\n 1 905<\/td>\n 2 339<\/td>\n 2 752<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Learner\/teacher ratio<\/td>\n 13<\/td>\n 15<\/td>\n 15<\/td>\n 15<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n More on education<\/h3>\n