Meridian Karino School

Karino, Mpumalanga. Not quite Sandton, not quite the middle of nowhere, but close enough to nowhere that you can smell it from the school gates. And yet somehow Meridian Karino has the audacity to charge R48,564 a year for Grade 12. R48,564. In Mpumalanga. For a school whose own description is so dry it reads like a CAPS document submitted five minutes before the deadline. "Serves 928 learners across both phases." Broe, that is not a school description, that is a census form. 928 learners and 50 teachers, which means your ratio is 18.6 to one. Not terrible, but also not great, like a braai where there is technically enough boerewors but everyone is watching everyone else to see who takes the last piece. And listen, they were so proud of that NSC and CAPS alignment that they mentioned it twice in spirit. We know what CAPS is, sisi. Every school in South Africa follows CAPS. That is like a restaurant putting "we use plates" on the menu. The part that really got me though is this line, "it does not offer boarding facilities." They said that like it was a flex. Like, yes we charge you R48k and no, you cannot even sleep here. You drive in, you pay, you leave. Karino gets the money, you get the CAPS curriculum and a wave goodbye. Overall verdict: Meridian Karino is charging Northern Suburbs prices for a Mpumalanga postcode, but if it gets kids through matric in the lowveld, respect where respect is due.