SOS: Salvaging Our Schools
It is difficult to imagine that any economy will thrive when, of the 1.2 million learners who enrolled in grade 1 in 2013, only 615 000 managed to pass matric in 2024.
Research shows that the majority of South African grade 5 learners (81%) struggled to read for understanding in 2023. Arguably, it is unlikely that even these grim statistics paint the full picture of South Africa’s education crisis.
Where to from here?
As a mutual society made up of professionals, who have fought their way through the education system, how can we make a meaningful difference? One of the focus areas identified in a 2025 World Bank Report1, is public private partnerships. Essentially, the public sector and private sector, including investors, need to join hands to build schools and a schooling system which can equip individuals to take their futures in their own hands. In 2024, there were 22 381 public schools and 2 469 independent schools in the country. Through our investment in the Old Mutual Alternative Investments EduFund, we are making a tangible contribution to a more educated workforce.
Over the course of 2024, the EduFund built 18 new schools in the independent sector, bringing the total number of new schools built since the Fund’s launch in 2020 to 30. This represents about 1% of all independent schools in the country. While 1% does not sound like much, even if only 1% of new students could participate in an effective education system, at least 12 000 of those 1.2 million might have made it to grade 12.
There are already more than 13 000 learners enrolled in the schools that the Fund has already built. The aim is to create a total capacity of 27 000 students by the end of the construction phase in 2027/28. Education is a journey and not all the schools in the portfolio have had a cohort of matriculants yet. However, of the 783 students who participated in the 2024 exams, 95% passed, which was well above the national average.
Equipping learners for a tech-driven future
The EduFund is also focused on skills development in critical areas to equip young people for a fast-paced, tech-driven world. These include STEM subjects like Robotics, Coding, Mathematics, Advanced Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Information Technology. Teachers at these schools are increasingly using EdTech tools, with the Fund negotiating bulk discounts for the necessary devices.
In 2024, more than 2,200 students benefited from bursaries and fee discounts, promoting greater access to quality education. This included:
- R1.418 million in bursaries granted by the Schools Fund, management companies, and school operators, supporting 44 students:
- R957,000 in external donor funding, supporting 60 placements
- R15.6 million in fee discounts, helping over 2,000 learners stay in school.
Of the students enrolled in existing schools, 54% are female and 97% are black.
This is what our investment is building. We are supporting education initiatives from the ground up. Where once there were no opportunities to learn and grow, there is now hope as we build one classroom at a time.
