South Africa-based school launches in Tatu City

Companies

South Africa-based school launches in Tatu City

Thursday, January 24, 2019 20:45

By IVY NYAYIEKA

South Africa’s private education firm AdvTech will Friday officially open a school in Kiambu's Tatu City under its Crawford Schools brand, marking its continued expansion into the East African market.

Crawford School will teach the Cambridge curriculum and targets learners from kindergarten to A-levels.

Last year, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed firm acquired Makini Schools in a deal, which saw founder Mary Okello earn about Sh930 million from the sale of a 71 per cent stake in her high-end group of eight schools to UK-based investor Scholé Limited and Advtech.

“Crawford International School Nairobi has a capacity for 1,700 students and is part of South Africa’s JSE-listed ADvTECH Group, Africa’s largest private education provider. The group also recently acquired the Makini Group of Schools in Nairobi and Kisumu, marking the start of a five-year expansion strategy in the East African region,” said Crawford in a statement.

The new Makini School owners reckon they would expand the institution beyond its eight schools in Nairobi and Kisumu, underlining foreign investor interest in Kenya’s high-end education.

Scholé Limited said it anticipated that the school fees for Makini Schools would increase thanks to inflation and operation costs as they further develop the facilities.

Makini charges more than Sh80,000 a term for its Nairobi schools and up to Sh45,000 at the Kisumu unit.

Tuition for Crawford ranges from Sh410,000 at kindergarten to Sh950,000 for senior high school students.

The last year saw increased investment in premium education, with businesses seeking to cash in on rich and middle-class parents’ interest in quality education as well as woo parents working for global institutions and foreign governments.

Brookhouse Schools opened a new branch in Runda in 2017. Centum-owned Sabis International School in Runda welcomed its first batch of 100 students in September last year.