It’s almost time for the typical mid-year public school holidays, with the resultant need to replace some articles of clothing, buy new textbooks, or otherwise spend money on a child’s, or children’s, education.
Online schooling is likely to be more cost-effective as there is no need to purchase uniforms, textbooks are often online, and stationery doesn’t need to be a certain colour. Other cost pushers that can be eliminated include transport, either via public transport or in fuel for mom and dad – tuckshop money, and school infrastructure levies.
In the most recent Statistics South Africa inflation release, for March – the month that it measures the cost of education – the agency noted that the price index for education increased by 4.5%. Although this was a slower rate of increase than the 6.4% rise in 2024, it was higher than the 2.7% overall inflation figure in March this year.
School fees increased 5% (against a 6.6% rise in 2024) and tertiary education institutions charged 3.7% more in 2025, compared with the 5.9% hike the year before.
Enter online schools. Louise Schoonwinkel, Managing Director at Impaq, told Personal Finance that “unlike traditional schooling, where costs are often fixed and out of your control, homeschooling offers flexibility – both in approach and budget”.
However, as Lauren Anderson, CEO of Koa Academy, said, there can be financial drawbacks to online schooling.
There are, for example, fewer traditional extracurriculars, which could add to the overall schooling bill. “While online schools offer virtual clubs and opportunities, students may have to look outside of school for traditional sports and group activities,” Anderson explained.
Lauren Anderson added that there may be a need for students to have access to a childcare programme. “Where traditional schooling provides childcare, with online schooling, particularly with younger children, childcare needs to be provided,” she said.
Good, stable internet connectivity is also essential for online schooling, said Anderson.
Excluding these sorts of costs, online schooling can range between R2,000 a month (for the American GED curriculum) through to around R5,000, excluding examination fees, depending on which virtual school you decide on, which is a personal choice depending on several requirements.
Koa’s fees range from R3,470 a month for the younger grades through to R4,610 a month, which includes learning material, online sessions, assessments, as well as one-on-one time with teachers.
Shaun Swartz, CEO at GED Africa and Learnalot, said that fees for the American GED course, which is a school-leaving equivalency diploma that is recognised by the South African Qualifications Authority, costs, at most, R2 000 a month, which includes all the online learning resources as well as private lessons, he said.
Swartz also explained that students can do the exams for the eight subjects in their own time, with the effective prelims costing R140 each, and the final exam at about R1,550 each, depending on the exchange rate.
By comparison, the average cost of education at a public school in South Africa is around R3,000 a month, with private schools setting parents back as much as R40,000 a month for the cream of the crop, although many are around R10,000 a month. This does, however, exclude uniforms and other school-mandated costs.
Yet, online learning still faces stigma. Koa Academy principal and co-founder Mark Anderson said that it doesn’t mean having to teach your child, that they will receive an inferior education level, or that parents will find that their child is not socialising.
Moreover, online education doesn’t necessarily mean being physically separate from other children, as there are what Swartz calls “cottage” centres, which are essentially supervised study units. “Most of the time they’ll learn using a computer, that’s all online, but there’s somebody there that’s just making sure that they sit and they work, and if they get stuck, they can ask somebody to try and help them,” he said.
“And many, many South Africans are doing it. They could be doing it for multiple reasons. It could be for medical reasons, where kids just can’t go to a normal day-to-day school because they’re sick. Many kids do it for religious reasons, and they’ll stay at home, and they’ll be homeschooled. Many students do it for sports, for sporting reasons,” and don’t have time otherwise for the usual routine, said Swartz.
While students who qualify with an American GED can get into any top university across the globe, they do not qualify for South African public universities, said Swartz. He explained that they can, however, go to private colleges that offer the same degrees, but can’t call themselves universities, as that is a public-sector term.
Schoonwinkel added that “the real challenge for many families is not cost, but knowing where to start and how to make sure they’re on the right track. Homeschooling shouldn’t just be about saving money – it should be about giving your child the best education you can afford.”
Koa’s head of academics, Jason Hutchinson, added that “learning is about the person doing the learning, with the teacher there to facilitate, guide, curate and optimise their learning”. In Mark Anderson’s view, parents considering online school options should embrace the same level of discernment when considering any other learning option for their children.
“It’s fantastic that we can reach anybody, anywhere with quality education, and teach children in new, tech-supported ways that are relevant and engaging,” said Mark Anderson.
PERSONAL FINANCE
