Francesca Villette
THE number of pupils at no-fee schools has increased sharply over the last 13 years, the latest General Household Survey has shown.
Last year, 65 percent of pupils in the country attended no-fee schools, compared to 0.4 percent in 2002.
In the Western Cape, the figure stands at 43 percent, or 457 240 of 1 063 349 pupils, according to the survey, although provincial Education Department spokesperson Paddy Attwell said there were 624 584 pupils enrolled at no-fee schools this year.
Of the 1 456 public schools in the province, 879 are no-fee schools.
In Limpopo, 92.5 percent of pupils attend no-fee schools, while 79.1 percent of pupils in the Eastern Cape and 41.6 percent of pupils in Gauteng attended the schools.
The survey also revealed that 19.4 percent of pupils in the country benefited from fee reductions or partial bursaries last year.
In the Western Cape, 73 342 pupils benefited from fee exemptions or partial exemptions last year, Attwell said.
Provinces classify schools using five quintiles, according to the relative average income of their surrounding communities. The poorest schools are in quintile one and the least poor in quintile five.
“According to policy, provinces have to classify schools per quintile according to percentages set nationally by the Department of Basic Education, using Census data. The Western Cape, therefore, has a smaller percentage of schools in quintiles one to three, compared to other provinces.
“However, the WCED (Western Cape Education Department) has found that schools in fee-paying areas are often just as poor as schools in quintiles one to three.
“For this reason, the WCED has added a further 216 schools in fee-paying areas to the list of no-fee schools,” Attwell said.
Four years ago, 25 340 of 944 921 pupils left school, while in 2013, 26 806 of 958 086 pupils left.
At the end of 2014, 27 532 of 978 433 pupils left school.
The pupils include those in grades 1 to 12.
The Education Department said at the time, however, that it could not be assumed that all of the pupils were simply dropping out of school as some pupils migrated to other provinces, or transferred to Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges and private schools.
TVET colleges, formerly FET colleges, in the Western Cape enrolled about 10 000 students in 2014 who passed Grade 9 and did not have matric.
Equal Education general secretary Tshepo Motsepe said while it was good that more pupils attended no-fee schools, as pupils realised education was the great tool, the figures also showed how the country grappled to create jobs.
“We should be happy with the figures as children depend on schools to provide them with an education that will help them create a better future for themselves.
“Although drop-out rates are higher than they should be, pupils are realising that they need to go to school, and no-fee schools make that possible.
“But the latest figures also pose questions on what more needs to be done to create employment and end poverty. We have a poverty crisis,” Motsepe said.
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