{"id":330885,"date":"2019-07-23T16:27:35","date_gmt":"2019-07-23T14:27:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=330885"},"modified":"2019-07-24T15:03:42","modified_gmt":"2019-07-24T13:03:42","slug":"south-african-private-schools-that-are-cheaper-than-public-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/finance\/330885\/south-african-private-schools-that-are-cheaper-than-public-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"South African private schools that are cheaper than public schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is a growing demand for private schools that are providing private school quality education at a price point comparable to many government schools.<\/p>\n

This is according to co-founder of Spark Schools, Stacey Brewer, who said that parents traditionally have had to either had to bite the bullet to pay for private schooling or take their chances in a government schooling system that\u2019s creaking at the seams.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re deliberately positioned at the lower end of the cost curve in private education, because we want to create a more inclusive education landscape and disrupt the accepted norm that private schools are only for an elite few,\u201d said Brewer.<\/p>\n

“Fees for 2020 will be R25,500 for primary school<\/strong> children and R33,000 per high school<\/strong> child \u2013 without receiving a cent in subsidies from government,” she said.<\/p>\n

The cost of schooling<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A January 2019 report<\/a> <\/strong>by Old Mutual found that you can now expect to pay millions of rands for a private school education in South Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf your child starts grade R in 2019 you can expect to pay between\u00a0R1,400,000 <\/strong>and R3,400,000, <\/strong>for public or private education respectively, over their school career,\u201d said\u00a0Marius Pretorius, head of marketing: retail savings and income solutions at Old Mutual Personal Finance.<\/p>\n

This amount includes a primary school, high school and three-year university qualification, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth of the matter is that education is expensive. If you\u2019ve saved any money and your child is entering a public primary or high school in 2019 you can expect to pay on average about R37,000 this year, while a private primary school and private high school will set you back R92,400 and R148,300, respectively.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to university education, parents can expect to pay R64,200 in 2019, on average,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The competition<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spark is not the only player in this market with a number of other competitors also promising a private school education for slightly more than government school fees.<\/p>\n

Below is an overview of the other big players in the space and how much it costs to send a child to these schools.<\/p>\n

AdvTech<\/strong><\/p>\n

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In July 2019 listed education group AdvTech<\/a> <\/strong>said that it was growing its offering in the \u2018mid-fee schools\u2019 sector through its ‘Pinnacle’ brand.<\/p>\n

Fees at these schools can vary greatly depending on the area and the grades that a student is in.<\/p>\n