Neelam Rahim / neelam@radioislam.co.za

2 min read
25 January 2023 / 21:17 pm CAT

Picture Credit: Google

Pupils in all provinces have returned to school for the 2023 academic year, but the bad news is that rising education costs will likely place a financial burden on parents. In the 2022 Consumer Price Index, Statistics SA said education costs increased by 4.4% in 2022. This was more than the 4.1% increase in 2021, although less than 2020’s 6.4%.

Discussing with Radio Islam International, Director and Chief Economist at Exonometrix, Dr Azar Jammine, said with the inflation rate increased to over 7/, we are likely to see a substantial increase in at least 7/ in fees, with the private school’s fees even higher.

According to Dr Jammine, education costs have been persistently increasing for over a decade. They are linked to a desire to attract decent teachers and schools to compete against one another in the case of private and model C schools.

There is a tendency for parents with kids in private schools to contemplate moving their kids into model C schools to reduce costs.

Meanwhile, the outlook for South Africans from an economic perspective is not healthy, per Dr Jammine.

The increased intensity of load shedding is bound to take its toll on people’s ability to survive across industries.

“The light at the end of the tunnel is that ultimately people are looking for solutions to try and cope with these issues,” he says.

Listen to the interview with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat and Dr Azar Jammine on Radio Islam’s podcast.