The Unheralded Little Players In Private Education

Here I would like to highlight the lesser-known smaller groups and schools that have shown extra-ordinary innovation in filling the gap left by government education.

Photo by Ivan Aleksic on Unsplash

This is the first in a series of articles investigating the lesser known and very innovative relatively new private schools.

Government education failure

We are all fully aware of the complete inadequacy of South Africa’s public education. We spend more on state education as a proportion of GDP than any country in the world, yet public education is in dire straits. The published matric pass rate, which seems to climb each year, is certainly anything but a reliable indicator, with half students who started in Grade 1 reaching Matric. Some might recall the sudden remarkable increase in the official Matric Pass rate under Minister Kader Asmal from 48% in 1999 to 73% in 2003, and 87% in 2024.

Sadly, many are graduating functionally illiterate.

Government schools exception

There are some wonderful exceptions. These are government schools that, despite poor management by the National Department of education (or lack thereof), have found a way to succeed.

A few that I know of from personal experience are in Gauteng: Fourways High School, Randfontein High School, Northcliff, Parktown girls, Jeppe Boys and Pretoria girls, and King Edwards School (KES).

All have a highly efficient, well organised, and motivated governing body. These parents use every penny wisely and work out innovative ways to raise funds.

Some, like KES and others, rely on contributions of a well-organised network of alumni.

I take my hat off to these enterprising education leaders and their innovative parents.

The less famous

There are of course the famous private schools who have been around a century or more, like Hilton, Michaelhouse, St Johns College, St Stithians, Bishops in Cape Town, and the like. Then there are the big groups in the Private School sector – Advtech, Curro and Inspired; all of whom have multiple schools around the country, in some cases, especially Inspired, around the world.

Here I would like to highlight the lesser-known smaller groups and schools that have shown extra-ordinary innovation in filling the gap left by government education.

Many of these cater for the lower end of the market, parents who cannot afford even the second tier of the big group private schools above.

Apex Stellenbosch schools

One excellent example is Apex. Their fees of just R620 per month are achieved through economies of scale and high standardisation. It may not be the most cutting edge in terms of pedagogy (student centred, enquiry based) but, crucially, it offers something infinitely better than state schools - a solid foundation for these learners is achieved.

All students will get the exact same notes and assessments. Students work classes of about 100 at their own pace through an online course with explanatory notes, videos, quizzes, and formative tasks. Their devices are very cheap - basic Chromebooks - and each class has 1 teacher and two assistants.

Trial and error

Apex follows what is called a “blended learning” model. This means that it is a combination of online and in-person learning.

Interestingly they have got to this model through trial and error. Initially they started in 2018 as a brick and mortar no fee public school. With the advent of Covid, they went online and provided data for students to get online.

They developed their own Learner Management System - the guts of any online school. It is the platform where learning material and activities and assessments are placed for independent student use. Normally a school would subscribe to one of a variety commercially available, but expensive offering. Creating their own was not only unique and innovative but has drastically reduced costs.

Then in July 2020, as schools returned, Apex transitioned to alternate days of in person and online learning.

In 2022 they trialled their first blended learning model. Their own analysis showed that results remained about the same as traditional schools. This was then expanded and is continuing to grow with a second Apex School starting up in January 2023 with larger purpose-built classes. They became a low fee private school called Stellenbosch Apex and extended the blended learning model.

The Apex website gives plenty of evidence for their model and its success – here is just one:

“If you told me a school was educating 100 learners with one teacher and two facilitators at the typical cost of public schooling in South Africa, I’d call you a dreamer. If you said these learners were outperforming their peers in traditional classes, I’d be even more doubtful. Yet, that is exactly what Apex is doing. They are proving the possible.” - Josh Zoia Regional Director, Africa & ME | One World Network of Schools

Apex offers grades 4, 8, 9, 10 and 11 which will expand every year. A few impressive statistics to note: No stolen devices, a 98% attendance, and a 10% improvement in the pass rate in Maths and English compared to government schools in the Cape.

This business clearly deserves private equity involvement.

In later articles we will look at some others in this growing sector.

Michael Caplan, an Associate of the Free Market Foundation, is a History and English teacher with 26 years’ experience in mostly private schools in Johannesburg. He holds an MA in History and has a strong interest in libertarianism and the free market.