Philippa Garson
MANY Soweto primary schools are half empty this year as tens of thousands of parents have chosen to send their children to schools in wealthier suburbs. In yet another irony thrown up by our skewed education system, many previously crowded Soweto schools have been abandoned by the township constituency. Instead, parents are sending their children to schools in the former white, Indian and coloured suburbs in Johannesburg, where English is the medium of instruction. And the drift away from township schools towards formerly white, Indian and coloured schools is being echoed in formerly whites schools too, with increasing numbers of white parents trying to get their children out of these schools and into private schools. According to the district director Ronald Swartz, primary schools in several areas of Soweto are only 40% full. Most high schools in the vast township are full to capacity,
The Mail & Guardian visited several primary schools in the township, none of which were full. Reutlwile Higher Primary School in Molapo has only 237 pupils, although it has a capacity of 560 pupils. According to the new pupil-teacher ratios, the school should take as many as 640 pupils. Principal Letoane Letoane attributed the small population at his school primarily to the fact that it is situated in an old area. `Most of these children live with their grandparents. Young parents have moved to areas like Protea and parents are reluctant to send young children to schools far away,’ he said. Nearby Sekwati primary school is only three-quarters full. Principal Ben Maimela said declining pupil numbers were partly due to the fact that `schools are open now and parents are free to take their children anywhere’. Commenting on the trend, Gauteng MEC for education Mary Metcalfe said: `Parents have the right to take their children where they want to, but they won’t contribute to good public schooling. They should be seeking solutions to the education crisis in their own schools. It’s time for them to stop running way from the problems there and start helping to make sure that township schools are working. We have to turn these schools around.’ In many of Johannesburg’s garden suburbs, schools have filled up markedly. In one district, most schools are reportedly full according to the new teacher-pupil ratios of 1:40 in primary schools and 1:35 in high schools, and authorities have been inundated with requests for information on openings. Mark Henning, national director of the Independent Schools Council, reports a significant increase in the demand for places at independent schools, particularly the country’s most elite institutions like St Stithians College (which has a waiting list of 4 000), St Andrews and St Johns in Johannesburg, Durban Girls College and Bishops in Cape Town. Comments Allison Gunning, principal of St Andrews: `We have had more pupils than in the past coming from government schools. We have a bigger group of standard sixes than ever before.’
According to Henning, private schools have lost many of their black pupils since formerly white state schools opened their doors. Many private donors as a result stopped offering bursaries for black pupils. Henning also notes a significant increase in the number of private schools being set up. In a new development, north of Johannesburg, a private school near Kyalami called Beaulieu has been opened with funds from parents and a bank loan. Similar schools mushroomed in Zimbabwe after independence. Currently, independent schools account for only two percent of the school population and take up one percent of the budget. Henning said the current uncertainty around state schooling was unfounded and could largely be attributed to the lack of a clear direction from government on funding. `The alarmist talk is unfounded. People should have confidence in the state system.’