Seven Myths about Catholic Schools in SA

MYTH 1: Catholic schools are too expensive

Some Catholic schools are expensive but the majority of South Africa’s Catholic schools are not.

Almost a third of Catholic schools, 32%, are no-fee schools (that is, they charge no fees as they serve the most marginalised), and 45% charge less than R5000 per year.

No-fee schools offer education at no cost to ensure that children from marginalised communities have access to education. These are public schools on private property, that is, funded by government.

Independent (private) education is expensive if schools are going to offer competitive salaries, a selection of extramural activities and provide science laboratories, up-to-date technology and libraries.

Government subsidies for independent schools are based on a set of formulae determined by the Department of Education and vary from 0% to 60% of the separate provincial average estimate per learner, depending on the fees charged by the school.

MYTH 2: Catholic schools don’t understand when parents can’t pay fees

Of course, all schools should be sensitive to parents who are experiencing financial difficulties for short periods of time.

However, it is the duty and responsibility of parents to pay school fees, unless the school is a no-fee school. If parents are no longer able to afford the fees of that school they ought to consider moving their child to another school where they can afford the fees.

A school’s budget is based on the number of pupils attending the school. The school, however, cannot afford to offer good-quality education if it is not receiving the fees that are due to meet that budget.

However, every Catholic school must be sensitive to the situation of parents whose circumstances change and should set aside a budget to provide for worthy cases.

MYTH 3: Catholic schools pay low salaries

In many instances, Catholic schools were established by missionary congregations from Europe.

The schools were staffed by the religious brothers and sisters. As the numbers of religious dwindled, lay people were employed to work in the schools.

In order to keep costs down, and because teaching was considered to be a vocation, lay teachers were given very little financial compensation for their efforts.

Today, salaries vary between public and independent schools, Catholic and other schools, urban and rural settings. It is unlikely that salaries in the teaching profession will ever be sufficient, unless parents and government are prepared to pay (even) more.

Two thirds of Catholic schools are public schools, so teachers are employed by the State and their salaries are therefore on a par with State salaries.

MYTH 4: There are no Catholic schools close by

Due to the increased costs of education many congregations could not continue running their schools without passing the cost of education on to parents, so some decided to close their schools. Many schools continue today under immense financial pressure.

Today, there are no more missionaries from Europe and the local Church does not have the resources to establish new schools. Any new schools will need to be established by congregations who have the means to do so, bishops, lay people or trusts.

But that doesn’t mean that there are no Catholics schools to which Catholic parents can send their children.

In South Africa there are 346 Catholic schools; some are independent, most are public.

Here is a list of schools per province:

KwaZulu-Natal 115

Gauteng  53

Eastern Cape  52

Western Cape  41

Limpopo/Mpumalanga 26

North West 20

Northern Cape  20

Free State  19

MYTH 5: Catholic schools are not Catholic enough

Catholic schools form part of the Church’s evangelising mission. The intention is to provide excellent education from a Catholic perspective for children who otherwise would not have access to education and, in so doing, spread the Good News.

Catholic education is meant to be inclusive, not exclusive. The Catholicity of the school is not determined by the number of Catholics in the school (learners or educators), the number of times Mass is celebrated in the school year, whether or not the school prepares learners for the sacraments, the number of religious sisters or brothers on the staff (or the board), or even the quality of the religious education programme.

It is a subtle blend of some of these that makes a Catholic school catholic.

Catholic schools are appraised annually to:

– Ensure that their policies and procedures are in line with, and give effect to, their distinctive religious character (RE).

– Ensure that a substantial and coherent religious education programme is offered across the whole school. Here it must be noted that religious education is not catechesis. The RE curriculum teaches children about the Catholic faith, other faiths, personal and structural morality and the world around them from a Catholic perspective.

– Uphold, develop and celebrate its distinctive religious character in all aspects of school life.

Each school is different. Some schools find it easy to maintain a Catholic ethos and tradition. Other schools struggle as they are not supported by local government officials, do not have qualified and knowledgeable RE teachers, do not have a Catholic church community close by, have few Catholics on the staff, or have a principal who is not actively supportive of the ethos.

MYTH 6: Catholic schools offer mediocre education

Catholic high schools offering the National Senior Certificate (matric) and the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) exams consistently achieve above the national average overall.

The difference ranged from 27,8 percentage points difference in 2008 (85,2% national Catholic schools pass to 62,5% national pass rate) to 9,3% in 2013 (89,5% to 78,2%).

For 2014 the national Catholic schools pass rate was 88,9%, compared to the national pass rate of 75,9%.

MYTH 7: Catholic schools have outmoded methods of discipline

For most of the last century, corporal punishment was considered an acceptable form of discipline in schools, and Catholic schools were no exception. In 1996, the South African Schools Act made the administering of corporal punishment in schools illegal.

Many teachers expressed a need for a different approach to discipline. The Catholic Institute of Education explored the process of restorative justice and developed the Building Peaceful Catholic Schools programme, which aims to improve the school climate through communication and the development of sound relationships (see pages 10-11).

It moves discipline from the punitive approach to the restorative approach, which helps to restore what went wrong. It encourages dialogue between the one harmed and the one doing the harm with a view to reaching an outcome that is satisfactory to both parties and restores the relationship between the two.

The CIE and Catholic Schools Offices are now offering workshops on restorative justice to Catholic schools.

Kelsay Correa is the communications manager for the Catholic Institute of Education.