As four elite South African boys’ schools negotiate over their fate of their exclusive Rhodes Scholarships, a former scholar argues it’s time to end this outdated privilege. Tracing back to Cecil Rhodes’ 1902 will, Jean Meiring reveals how these school-specific scholarships have become an “awkward anomaly” in a programme that has evolved globally to embrace inclusion, while South Africa’s township schools – with far greater need – remain excluded from this pathway to Oxford.