The race of the teachers at a school does not matter for most South Africans when choosing where to send their children. This finding comes from a Social Research Foundation survey of over 1 000 South Africans conducted in June 2025.

A question was put to participants of the survey: “If you had to choose a school for your child, how much would the racial composition of the teachers matter to you?”

They were then given four options: a great deal, somewhat, very little, and not at all.

Amongst all South Africans 29% chose “a great deal”, 10% chose “somewhat”, six percent chose “very little”, and 55% chose “not at all”.

When broken down by race some 32% of black South Africans chose “a great deal”, eight percent chose “somewhat”, four percent chose “very little” and 57% chose “not at all”.

Amongst coloured South Africans 22% chose “a great deal”, 17% chose “somewhat”, nine percent chose “very little”, and 52% chose “not at all”.

Meanwhile, amongst white South Africans 12% chose “a great deal”, 18% chose “somewhat”, 20% chose “very little”, and 50% chose “not at all”.