BUSINESS NEWS - Private education group Curro Holdings plans to spend R400 million building six new campuses in the 2018 financial year. The move will see the PSG-controlled company expand its low-fee private school offering in South African townships.
After the release of Curro’s interim results for the six months to end June 2018, CEO Andries Greyling said new greenfield developments and expansion investments are on the cards in townships including Gauteng’s Soweto, Soshanguve, and Mamelodi.
This is part of Curro’s more than R2 billion capital expenditure budget earmarked for new greenfield developments, investments in existing schools, and possible acquisitions.
Curro’s push into the lower-fee private school market has been many years in the making. The 22-year-old company’s move into academy schooling prompted JSE-listed rival Advtech to do likewise; it has been seeking opportunities in this market since 2014.
Curro currently operates Curro Academy lower-fee private schools in townships including Protea Glen in Soweto, and Pretoria’s Soshanguve and Mamelodi. Protea Glen is one of the townships earmarked for a new campus under the new investment.
Greyling said Curro is responding to the demand from parents for quality and low-fee private education.
In a township like Soshanguve, parents would enrol their children at public schools with 50 pupils in a classroom at a general cost of between R2 000 to R3 000 a month, he said. Meanwhile, parents could spend between R1 800 to R2 800 a month to enrol their children at Curro Academy schools in townships, with 35 pupils in a class. In contrast, Curro’s high-fee schools cost an average of R4 500 a month, with 25 pupils in a classroom.
