'Low-cost' private school chains for the poor and the rise of edu-capitalism in South Africa

The paper focuses on the rise of for-profit private education in South Africa in the context of a ‘crisis’ of the public education system. While access to basic education has greatly improved since the end of apartheid,... [ view full abstract ]

The paper focuses on the rise of for-profit private education in South Africa in the context of a ‘crisis’ of the public education system. While access to basic education has greatly improved since the end of apartheid, educational performances have remained poor and quality has become a major site of social differentiation. Advocates of private education argue that the cause of ‘access to quality’ would call for an expansion of private provision through ‘low-fee private schools for the poor’: private provision would be intrinsically superior in meeting the state’s commitment to provide quality education for all. In comparison with other emerging countries, private schools in South Africa have so far catered for a small share of learners. However, over the last decade, the number of private schools has grown significantly and formal chains of self-identified low-fee for-profit private schools have emerged. Pearson has also decided to turn South Africa into one of its new market frontiers. Nevertheless, the question of private education remains scarcely scholarly investigated. This paper presents the current state of play of private schooling in South Africa and discusses the definition of ‘low-fee’ schools in the South African context – a contentious field. It then analyses the business models of various self-identified ‘affordable’ private school chains and argues that these schools can be accurately described as ‘cognitive factories’. Finally, a detailed analysis of the capital structure that underpins these business models allows to shed light on the financialization and internationalisation of South Africa’s contemporary capitalism.