This week in my school old boys WhatsApp group we have been discussing the cost of an education depending on where you live. My old school ranked 6th in the Western Cape this year with regard to academic results. What is clear now is you do not fully comprehend how fortunate you were to attend a decent school and I have my parents to thank for that.
Not bad for a government school.
This is t only about the education, but the overall package that is on offer including lifestyle and sports. My school is a government school, but was more like a private school when you start to compare against what is out there and around the world. I know as I ought my kids back from the UK as I was not overly impressed with the education standards in the UK. Maybe if they had attended a private school or a Blue Blood school things would have been different. A Blue Blood is a school that is like a private school, but you are assessed on what you can afford and is only allowed for one generation so your kids kids are not allowed to attend.
At my old school we had the normal sports such as athletics, cricket, rugby, hockey, tennis etc and then more specialist sports like water polo, surfing, golf, rowing ,shooting, table tennis and chess. We had a school marching band where one of our guys went on to become the head drum major at Sandhurst in the UK. The school offered something for everyone and if you wanted other stuff it was available as well like rock climbing on the mountain next door. the facilities were comparable and if not better to any private school I have seen on my travels.
With my classmate all having had children of their own it was interesting to see their view points on costs and comparisons. The problem is you are going to compare what you had and it is hard to find and I would say impossible in a government school as they do not exist offering what we have. I would say that 80% of my classmates had their kids attended their old school and at least knew the standard of education they were receiving.
One of the guys lives in Canada and his son went to a private school costing
nearly 7 x what the fees are currently. My old school is at R65 500 which is roughly $3.250 ad his fees would be closer to R450K or $22K. They had limited extra activities and was not on the same scale we have.
Others who are living in the States, Australia and the UK are also having to pay big money to get anywhere close to what they knew and it is just not available. In some ways I regret moving away from Cape Town as I would like to have had my kids experience what I had and I do feel they missed out on other opportunities in life. Just because a school costs a fortune des not mean you are getting the best available education around and it is more about the complete package.
When we were in Johannesburg I sent my daughter to a private school where she lasted only 1 year saying that is was not worth the expense. This school at the time was in excess of $1K monthly ad eventually moved her to another private school that was more beneficial for her needs and wishes. My son went to a local government school and is my biggest regret with my kids as he should have been offered far more.