The Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa (ISASA) is the largest and oldest association of independent schools in

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number of ...

. ISASA traces its origins back to the Conference of Headmasters and Headmistresses formed in 1929, and more recently to the Independent Schools Council, which was dissolved to create ISASA in 1999. ISASA today is a not for profit company (NPC), which represents more than 730 independent schools in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

and

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

. Over 161,000 learners attend ISASA-affiliated schools. Since the collapse of the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

state and the advent of democracy in

, dramatic changes have occurred in the independent (private) school sector. In 1990, there were approximately 550 registered independent schools in the country. The dominant public perception of independent schools at that time was “white, affluent and exclusive”. In 2014 there are at least 1584 independent schools in South Africa. The sector educates more than 500,000 learners, of which 73% are black (58% are Black African). Traditional, high-fee independent schools are now a minority in the sector, with only an estimated 15% of schools charging fees of more than R50 000 per annum. Despite an increase in the number of for-profit independent schools, and in particular for-profit "chain schools", the sector remains largely not-for-profit. Most independent schools are also small schools, with 350 learners per school or less. This is partly because so many of them are newly established. The sector serves a wide range of different religions, philosophies and educational approaches across the full socio-economic spectrum. Lebogang Montjane is the current Executive Director of ISASA. Other key personnel include John Lobban (Director: Membership and Operations) and Sandile Ndaba (Director: Policy and Government Relations).

References

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External links

Official website
Education in South Africa Private and independent school organizations