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Over the past quarter-century, hundreds of thousands of families have chosen to move their children into independent schools, making private education one of the fastest-growing sectors in the country. The decision reflects a simple calculation by parents: if government schools cannot reliably guarantee a child's future, many families will make sacrifices to secure a better education elsewhere.

In 2000, South Africa had 256 283 pupils enrolled in independent schools. By 2025, that figure had increased to 756 594, representing growth of almost 200%. Over the same period, enrolment in public schools grew by just over 10%.

The chart below shows the growth in enrolments in public schools between 2000 and 2025.

The chart below shows the same data for independent schools.

Readers will notice that there is a vast difference in the number of children enrolled in public schools compared to the number enrolled in private schools. What matters for the sake of this analysis is the relative growth in enrolments between those two school systems.

The chart below shows this as a percentage change in independent school enrolment compared to that of public schools.

Another way of thinking of what has changed is to compare the ratio of children in public and independent schools. This is shown on the chart below.

That ratio is evolving very rapidly. Independent schools play an increasingly important role in the education of South Africa’s children. The chart is a literal demonstration of how people are voting with their feet.

The trend is visible across every province.

The chart below shows the number of children enrolled in independent schools in 2000 and 2025 in each of South Africa’s provinces.

The sustained growth in independent school enrolment shows that increasing numbers of South African families are choosing alternatives to the public education system. This reflects a growing willingness among parents to invest their own resources in securing better educational opportunities for their children rather than relying solely on the state.

Independent schools have become one of the clearest expressions of a growing and aspirant middle class investing directly in its children's future.

Many of these independent schools charge relatively low fees. Research shows a broad range of fee structures. South Africa’s elite private schools may charge fees of upwards of R300 000 a year but a growing number of more modest options charge just a tenth of that.

Even at the lower-bound range the investment is still a sacrifice, especially for poorer parents. That has nothing to do with buying prestige. South African research on school choice shows parents are looking for more basic things they fear their children may not receive elsewhere, including firm discipline, good management, committed teachers, and a school with a strong reputation. In that context, even a relatively poor household may regard school fees as a worthwhile sacrifice if they believe the alternative could compromise their child's education.

A Stellenbosch University study from 2017 found that low-fee independent schools were also able to use resources more efficiently and are thus able to translate resources into better performance. They also provide better educational outcomes for children.

The study compared Grade 6 and Grade 9 mathematics results in low-fee independent and public schools in Gauteng.

In the province, pupils at low-fee independent schools achieved better mathematics results than those at equivalent public schools, with those schools appearing better able to convert available resources into better academic performance. The study therefore shows that the expansion of low-fee independent schooling could give more children access to stronger academic outcomes, making it an important part of South Africa's long-term educational transformation.