Blacks 'lose faith' in state schools

In fact, more than half of all pupils at private schools in South Africa are now black.

Johannesburg parent Ma-Setlogelo Masote said she was happy to pay R60000 annually so that her child could be educated in a stimulating environment.

Her six-year-old son Pendo, a talented violinist, is a Grade R pupil at The Ridge, a boys' preparatory school in Westcliff, Johannesburg.

Masote, a customer-relations manager for an IT company, said: "Some public schools offer quality education, some don't. For me, the problem is the inconsistency."

Desperate to give their children a well-rounded education that included sport, music, ballet and drama, black parents are paying thousands every year just for Grade R.

The number of black pupils attending private schools increased by more than 81000 between 2003 and 2008.

In comparison, coloured, white, and Indian enrolment at private schools in the same period increased by a total of nearly 30000. Of that number, 20131 were white; 7598 coloured and 1711 were Indian.

At least 220591 of the 365721 pupils at private schools, which charge tuition fees ranging from R5350 to R80000 a year, were black, according to the Department of Basic Education.

Last year private schools recorded a matric pass rate of 97.4% in comparison to the national pass rate of 60.6%.

Dr Jane Hofmeyr, executive director of the Independent Schools' Association of Southern Africa, which represents 700 of the 2000 private schools in the region, said "poor-quality education" at many public schools was the reason black parents were moving their children.

Some of the top private schools in Johannesburg and Cape Town had a "significant" black enrolment, Hofmeyr said.

The headmistress of Roedean in Johannesburg, Mary Williams, said her school had a "very healthy demand" from black parents, with a 29% black enrolment. The school provides bursaries to previously disadvantaged pupils.

Dr Junita Kloppers-Lourens, the Democratic Alliance's shadow education minister, said black parents had lost faith in government schools.

"Private schools have better teachers, management and the discipline is better. They also don't experience the stranglehold that (teachers' union) Sadtu has over state schools."

But Bobby Soobrayan, acting director-general of Basic Education, said that children at private schools only constituted about 3% of South Africa's total pupil population.