Independent private school network SPARK Schools has partnered with the Ignite Education Fund to ensure the ongoing education of learners whose families have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Fund was originally established in 2019 to reduce educational exclusion by giving more South African learners the chance to attend private schools. The new partnership aims to ease the financial strain on SPARK Schools families who face retrenchments, salary cuts and lost income in their own businesses due to the pandemic.
SPARK Schools CEO Stacey Brewer said that without support, economically vulnerable families affected by the lockdown would be left with no alternative but to default on school fees because they have no financial safety net. This would lead to interruptions in learning for children, creating gaps in their education that would be hard to fill in the future.
“Many of our parents go to great lengths to give their children the best education they can, and through our partnership with Ignite Education Fund, we want to ensure that more children can continue to receive the benefits of quality private education,” said Brewer.
The assistance that the Fund will provide to SPARK Schools families includes financial support to pay fees; the provision of educational tools and materials to families during the lockdown to avoid students falling behind on their studies, and academic, social-emotional and community support to prevent lowered school attendance or dropouts.
SPARK Schools provides private school quality education at a price point comparable to many government schools. It currently serves over 12800 families in 21 schools across Gauteng and the Western Cape, with fees ranging from R25,500 for primary school children to R33,000 per high school child – without receiving a cent in subsidies from government.
“We’re deliberately positioned at the lower end of the cost curve in private education, because we want to create a more inclusive education landscape and disrupt the accepted norm that private schools are only for an elite few,” said Brewer.
“Educational exclusion is one of the biggest barriers to economic stability in families globally – and this is particularly true for disadvantaged communities in South Africa. One of the primary drivers for this exclusion is the cost of education. There are more than 12 million school-going children in South Africa, and not enough middle- to low-cost schools to serve them.”
The Ignite Education Fund will be actively approaching individuals and businesses to fund-raise. More information, and application forms for SPARK Schools families, can be found at http://www.igniteeducationfund.co.za/.
