David Maynier
We are pleased to see the interest that the work of Edu Invest, powered by Wesgro, is generating in the media. Unfortunately, there do seem to be some myths already doing the rounds about what private investment into the education sector looks like, and what impact it will have on public education.
These myths can have a dampening effect on investment, so it is worth taking the time to dispel them. The primary goal of Edu Invest is to draw investment into new independent schools in our province, to increase the number of school places in our system and expand the variety of choices available for parents.
In the Western Cape, only 5.2% of learners attend independent schools. In Gauteng, the proportion is 14%. So our province’s problem is not that we have too many independent schools– it is that we have too few!
We must urgently dispel the myth that independent schools are only for wealthy families. The reality is that we have excellent no-fee or low-fee schools in the Western Cape, and we want to increase the number of these schools.
Independent schools like Christel House, Leap Science and Maths Schools, Calling Academy, and Apex High School Stellenbosch are part of an expanding network of no-fee or low-fee schools delivering high quality education and offering more choices to parents in low-income communities.
These are exactly the type of investments that the Edu Invest team aims for and has succeeded in bring in. But prioritising low and no fee schooling does not mean we should exclude higher fee options from consideration.
The second myth we need to dispel is that new higher-fee independent schools opening in the Western Cape will somehow prevent or negate investment in no-fee and low-fee education. There is no logical sense to such a claim.
Demand for schooling is spread across the full spectrum of fee prices in our province. Yes, we have a high demand for no-fee schools, but we also see severe pressure on our schools of choice with higher fees.
Creating more options for parents who are open to paying higher fees is a good thing, and our message to these school providers is that the Western Cape is open for their business too.
Having more schooling options at every level, and helping to ease the admissions pressure across the system, allows government to target our resources where this is needed most without fear of increasing pressure in other areas.
The final myth we need to dispel is the belief that private investment into existing schools can either be channeled to schools in poor communities, or schools that are generally well-resourced, but not both.
Generally, schools that successfully communicate their needs to donors and the private sector are able to raise additional support and investment. The only way to ensure that we have greater investment into schools in low-income areas who are in great need of support is for us to get better at signaling this need to the market.
This is precisely how Edu Invest can help. For example, at the 2025 Invest in Education event we held at the CTICC last month, five schools presented their specific needs to the assembled investment partners. All five schools were no-fee or relatively low-fee schools in their respective markets, and all were assisted to clearly communicate and quantify their needs, so that the private sector can assist.
But it doesn’t have to be one or the other: the more schools that benefit from this kind of support, the better.
Our economy is in a tough spot right now, and parents in all income brackets are feeling the pinch. Parents who make the decision to invest in spending more on education from their budget have to make difficult sacrifices for this, so we encourage all schools to do what they canto seek additional support.
The private sector is a big resource, and there is plenty of support to go around. Schools just need to know who to ask for it, and how to ask for it. So we should all support an initiative that helps schools to do just that.
We want to send a clear message that our province is eager and ready to expand our partnerships with the private sector, because together we can deliver quality education for every learner, in every classroom, in every school in the Western Cape.
*Maynier is the MEC of Education in the Western Cape
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