From Nigeria to Kenya and Egypt to South Africa, student voices reveal how public–private divides in facilities, teaching, and exam preparation shape who gets to university and who gets left out.
In Nigeria, Irene recalls that at her public high school, “students mostly do chores like sweeping and farming, and might only have real lessons two or three times a week,” whereas wealthier peers in private schools enjoyed “good quality education [with] qualified teachers, and good facilities.” Her experience is a common reality across Africa: two parallel secondary education systems, public and private, that offer vastly different opportunities.
Resources and Infrastructure
Education in many African countries is marked by a stark resource divide. Public schools, which serve the majority, are often overcrowded and underfunded, while private schools that are accessible mainly to the affluent boast smaller classes and better facilities.
In South Africa, roughly 85% of learners attend public schools where class sizes commonly exceed 30–40 students per teacher, compared to a 15:1 ratio in elite private schools.[1] Many public campuses struggle with basics: according to government data, over 20,000 South African public schools have no science laboratory, 18,000 lack a library, and 16,000 have no internet. More than 3,000 schools still rely on unsafe pit latrines instead of proper toilets.[2] By contrast, well-funded private institutions have modern amenities—from computer labs to sports facilities—and can invest in extracurriculars.
“Most public schools lack even basic amenities, such as libraries and sanitation,” observes one South African educator, and this “stark difference between public and private schooling… is a key driver of… inequality”.[1]
In some extreme cases, public schools don’t just lack materials, they lack actual learning. “Public schools are cheap, some are even free… But the quality is very low,” says Irene of Nigeria. “Students mostly do chores…and might only have real lessons two or three times a week.”
She notes that private schools, though expensive, offer far superior conditions. The physical state of a school, such as safe buildings, electricity, water, and classrooms with manageable numbers, can profoundly affect students’ ability to learn. Amnesty International warned that government failure to fix school infrastructure “has consequences for the life chances of thousands of young people.”[2]
Curriculum and Teaching
Not only do public and private schools differ in resources, they often deliver very different educational experiences. In Egypt, for example, public high schools have become largely exam factories: many students barely attend class, relying on after-school tutoring to learn the material.
Manar Muhammad, an educator from Egypt, notes that public-school seniors often spend their days in cram sessions for the national exam, while private school students follow a full curriculum with quizzes, projects, and teacher feedback throughout the year.
This pattern repeats elsewhere. Kenya’s high school system, influenced by the British model, places all students in a final exam-centric curriculum, but private schools often provide more support.
“Everything leads up to that exam,” says Dorothy Muturi, a student from Kenya, referring to the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) that determines university placement. “Schools push students really hard to perform well,” she adds.
In theory, both public and private students face the same national exams in countries like Kenya, Lesotho, or Malawi, but in practice, preparation differs. Mpho from Lesotho experienced both a traditional public school and a government-run boarding school, “run more like a private institution.” The latter was highly structured: “Almost like the military,” she says, with 5 a.m. wake-ups, strict study hours, and disciplined routines. That level of organization and academic focus was “quite different from what I was used to” in her earlier public day school.
Teacher quality and teaching style also diverge. Well-resourced private schools can attract and retain trained, motivated teachers whereas public schools in poorer areas often face teacher shortages, larger classes, and even absenteeism.
A UNICEF study found that teacher absenteeism tends to be higher in public schools than in private ones across Africa, exacerbating instructional gaps.[3] Irene’s memories from Nigeria illustrate this: in her public high school, instructional time was so limited that her family hired a private tutor to supplement her learning. In Ethiopia, where Weini attended an elite private high school in Addis Ababa, there was a culture of strict rules and high expectations. “Phones can be confiscated for the entire year if caught” and punctuality was enforced.
A World Bank-backed report projected that by 2021, one in four African students would be enrolled in private schools, reflecting both growing demand and government underinvestment in public education.[4] Yet this trend brings concerns that a two-tier education system is being further entrenched, with poor families left in under-resourced schools. “Private schools have stepped in to plug the gap… but [this] may deepen inequalities,” warned the UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report, noting that high fees exclude the poorest and weak regulation can undermine quality.[5]
High-Stakes Exams and Access to University
Across African countries, the transition from high school to university is a high-stakes hurdle that often magnifies the advantages of private schooling.
“Students from public schools find it very difficult to compete with students from private schools to access reputable institutions and universities,” observed a Moroccan high school student, noting that private school pupils usually attain higher exam marks. In Morocco, the share of students in private education quadrupled from 4% in 1999 to 15% in 2015 as families who can afford it seek better instruction.[6] The result, experts say, is a widening gulf: “There is a big gap between the public and private schools in terms of quality… Parents know those [private] schools can earn their kids higher marks,” the student Anas said. And since exam scores determine university entry, “privately-educated children usually attain better grades, [making] it very difficult for students from public schools to… access major universities.”[6]
This pattern is borne out by data in countries like South Africa. Only 36% of graduates from no-fee public schools achieved a bachelor’s pass (the level required for university) in recent years, compared to over 90% of students from top private schools.[1]
In Nigeria, where university aspiration is high, Irene estimates that “only about 12% of students go on to higher education.” This is not for lack of desire, but because “there just aren’t enough spaces in public universities, and private ones are very expensive.” Many less-privileged students, she says, “end up doing menial jobs instead” if they can’t make it to college.
Even for students who do score well, public university systems can present further obstacles. In countries like Nigeria and South Africa, public universities are prone to disruptions such as strikes and overcrowding, so wealthy families often send students to private or overseas universities. The gap thus continues beyond high school.
Unequal Schools, Unequal Futures
The disparities between a well-off private high school student and an underprivileged public school student in Africa don’t end at graduation; they define their adult lives. Education is a key driver of social mobility, and when a large segment of youths receive an education so subpar that it barely equips them for higher learning or skilled jobs, inequality deepens.
“South Africa has one of the most unequal school systems in the world. Children in the top 200 schools achieve more distinctions in math than children in the next 6,600 schools combined,” an analysis by Amnesty International noted, underscoring how concentrated educational success is in a few well-resourced schools. The organization’s report concluded bluntly that “a child’s experience of education still very much depends on where they are born and how wealthy they are.” [2]
This extends over the entire continent. According to UNESCO, only about 9% of college-age youth in sub-Saharan Africa are enrolled in any form of tertiary education, compared to 40% globally.[7] The few who make it to university disproportionately come from better schools and better-off families.
Crucially, the education divide also carries a psychological toll. Students from underfunded schools often perceive, by comparison, that success is “not for people like them.” Precious, who attended a public high school in South Africa noted that the pressure was constant. After final exams, results are published in newspapers by exam number. For those who pass, it’s a moment of triumph. For those who don’t, doors to advancement swing shut. Many African students know that their entire future can hinge on that exam, and they keenly feel the inequity of the preparation they received.
To close this gap, experts stress that improving public education is imperative. Expanding access alone is not enough; the quality of schooling must be lifted. UNESCO has called on governments to set and enforce minimum standards for all schools, public and private, noting that “parallel systems with different expectations, resources, and working conditions” only widen the gulf in learning outcomes.[7] The World Bank and other development partners have similarly urged heavy investment in public school infrastructure, teacher training, and accountability, to ensure that a child in a rural public school can achieve her potential just as well as a child in an elite academy.[8]
Some countries offer hopeful examples: Rwanda eliminated secondary school fees and saw enrollment surge by 25% in one year, showing that political will can make a difference.[9] And Kenya’s push for free primary education in the 2000s markedly improved literacy rates, proving that when education is prioritized and funded, gaps can begin to close.[1] Still, much remains to be done at the high school level.
The students who shared their stories — from Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, to South Africa — all show that talent is universal, but opportunity is not. Bridging the education divide will require tackling the inequalities in funding and quality between public and private schools. As one South African commentator put it, “unequal schools mean unequal futures”.[1] If African countries are to fulfill the promise of their youth populations, they must find a way to provide all students a fair chance at a quality high school education and the doors it opens.
Sources:
[1] https://mg.co.za/thought-leader/opinion/2024-12-05-unequal-schools-mean-unequal-futures/
[5] https://www.unesco.at/en/education/education-2030/global-education-monitoring-gem-report/gem21-22.
[6] https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2018/3/7/how-an-education-crisis-is-hurting-moroccos-poor