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Inside Education Reporter
Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube said she will not implement policies or programmes without evidence of their value in an effort to improve the quality outcomes of the education system.
Minister Gwarube delivered the Basic Education Budget Vote Speech for the 2024/25 Financial Year on Monday in the National Assembly.
She outlined the overall Midterm Economic Framework (MTEF) budget allocation for the Department of Basic Education (DBE) at R32.3 billion, an increase of 7.4% from the previous 2023/24 overall allocation.
Setting a tone for the 7th administration, she emphasized how learners deserve nothing less, and anyone who looks with a critical eye at the work of the Department would not find much fault with its policies and plans.
However, she insisted that the department should go far beyond its previous mandate in order to objectively assess the outcomes of improving the lives of learners.
“If this Department does well, it creates a path to success for many who have been excluded from the economic advantages of having a good education. Therefore, we must be bolder, ambitious and set high evidence-based targets for ourselves,” she said, adding that she has begun the work of critically assessing targets and milestones as a department,” she said.
The minister said the Department projects that the desired outcome, includes improving the performance of School Governing Bodies (SGB)’s effectiveness for financial year, to achieve a 50% coverage of schools, in light of 3 decades after the South African Schools’ Act was enacted.
“Given the critical role of school governing bodies in relation to much of what our public schools do, this is simply not good enough. We must do better. In my short time in this office, I have already been approached by parents of learners reaching the end of Grade 4 who cannot read for meaning or manipulate simple numbers,” she said.
Gwarube said parents want to know how the department reconciles that reality with setting targets to increase the National Senior Certificate pass rate or improve the percentage of Bachelor Passes.
“I therefore applaud those components of our national system who take seriously how important it is to increase the reading and calculating ability of our youngest learners, making sure that every learner has a fair chance of staying the course to Grade 12,” she added.
The minister said that the challenges, as articulated by the learners’ parents, are reflected in current achievement levels which aim to meet international benchmarks and that there have been improvements, in terms of previously low literacy and numeracy rates.
She told Parliament that the department would concentrate on getting learners at all levels in the system to be able to read for meaning.
Furthermore, the minister called for the improvement of Grade 9 Mathematics performance in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) which was set to rise from 372 in 2015 to 420 in 2023.
She prescribed the establishment of an advisory council representing the basic education system as soon as possible, in order to include all key stakeholders across the sector, as well as experts in key disciplines.
“This council, once up and running, will be an invaluable resource in ensuring that our efforts to strengthen our education system are targeted, evidence-based and informed by best practice,” Gwarube said.
She said DBE is committed to building a solid foundation for a quality and efficient basic education system, from ECD,
through the Foundation, Intermediate and Senior Phases, to the Further Education and Training (FET) Band.
In line with this commitment, the Minister identified five key priorities for the 7th Administration that will inform their decision-making in this portfolio:
1. Firstly, to intensify efforts to improve access to and quality of early childhood development, recognising that the formative years are critical to laying a strong foundation for our children’s education journey.
2. Secondly, the department is steadfast on improving literacy and numeracy skills across all phases of schooling.
3. Thirdly, to increase efforts to improve access to and the quality of inclusive education for learners in the most vulnerable communities and learners with special education needs. To ensure that the education system is accommodating and supportive of all learners.
4. Fourthly, to intensify efforts to improve access to and the quality of training and professional development opportunities available to school management teams and teachers. She said teachers are the backbone of the schooling system. Given the many and varied challenges
that teachers and principals are required to respond to in their daily work, the department needs to ensure that they are supported to achieve the quality learning outcomes we so desperately need.
5. And finally, but certainly not least, working tirelessly to improve the safety and quality of schooling environments for our learners and teachers.
Part of her urgent task includes reducing overcrowding in classrooms, improving access to electricity, water, and adequate sanitation facilities, and removing inappropriate structures, such as pit latrine toilets.
Minister Siviwe Gwarube with Deputy Minister Dr. Reginah Mhaule.
The breakdown of the budget by the Education Programme, is as follows:
The allocation for Administration increased by 3.0% from last year’s allocation to R607.5 million.
The allocation for Curriculum Policy Support and Monitoring increased by 16.0% from 2023/24 to R4.089 billion.
The allocation for Teacher Education, Human Resource and Institutional Development is R1.439 billion.
Planning Information and Assessment is allocated R15.995 billion, an increase of 8.0% from the 2023/24 allocation.
The allocation for Educational Enrichment Services increased by 5.8% from last year’s allocation to R10.129 billion.
The overall allocation for Conditional Grants is R26.041 billion – an increase of 10.4% from that of 2023/24. The specific allocations for Conditional Grants are as follows:
The Mathematics, Science and Technology (MST) Grant, is allocated R443.8 million, a 15.8% increase from last year’s allocation.
Infrastructure delivery – which continues to be funded through the Education Infrastructure Grant (EIG) – is allocated R13.7 billion, an increase of 11.4% from 2023/24 financial year.
Accelerated School Infrastructure Development Initiative – also known as the School Infrastructure Backlog Grant – is allocated R1.641 billion, which is also inclusive of the allocation for Sanitation Appropriate for Education (SAFE) Initiative.
HIV and AIDS, whose purpose is to support South Africa’s HIV and TB prevention strategy, has been allocated R249.7 million, an increase of 16.8% from last year’s allocation.
The National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) has been allocated R9.798 billion, an increase of 5.6% from the 2023/24 allocation.
The Learners with Severe to Profound Intellectual Disabilities Grant receives R278.9 million, an increase of 7.1% from the 2023/24 allocation.
The overall allocation for Earmarked allocations and transfer payments is R3.178 billion.
The specific allocations for these funds include the following:
The allocation for the Funza Lushaka Bursary Programme is R1.266 billion.
The 2024/25 subsidy to Umalusi has increased by 2.4% from 2023/24 to R166.9 million.
The National Senior Certificate Learner Retention Programme, also known as the Second Chance Programme, is allocated R38.6 million.
Workbooks, including Braille workbooks for visually impaired learners, have been allocated R1.214 billion.
The South African Council of Educators (SACE) is allocated a subsidy of R16.4 million, an increase of 5.4% from last year’s allocation.
Early Childhood Development has been allocated R150 million for the Resource package for 2024/25 financial year.
Early Childhood Development Nutrition pilot has been allocated R197 million for Resource packages for the 2024/25 financial year.
“Chair, we wish to remind this House that our Action Plan to 2024: Towards the Realisation of Schooling 2030, which gives expression to the Constitution, the National Development Plan, as well as the continental and international conventions, continues to provide the moral imperative and a mandate to the Government to make the social justice principles of access, redress, equity, efficiency, inclusivity and quality education opportunities widely available to all citizens,” Gwarube said.
INSIDE EDUCATION
