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Akani Nkuna
The KwaZulu-Natal education department will receive additional funding over the next three years to cover salary costs, support teacher assistants, and strengthen school infrastructure, MEC Francois Rodgers said on Tuesday while tabling the 2026/27 budget.
The amount allocated to education is R71.193 billion, accounting for 42.4% of the total R168.2 billion provincial budget.
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Rodgers said the department would receive R647.3 million in 2026/27, R676.5 million in 2027/28 and R697.6 million in 2028/29 “towards addressing the existing budget pressures in compensation of employees in the department, which were largely caused by significant historic budget cuts”.
Rodgers also announced additional funding for Grade R teachers as the province continues to bring their pay in line with the rest of the basic education system. The department will receive R29.8 million in 2026/27, R59.5 million in 2027/28 and R101.6 million in 2028/29 for “the progressive equalisation of the remuneration of Grade R teachers”.
“Grade R is now part of the compulsory phase of basic education and the teachers should be remunerated accordingly. These funds are therefore added to our budget to progressively increase these teachers’ salaries,” he said.
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The budget also retains support for school-based employment through the Presidential Employment Stimulus.
Rodgers said the department would receive R70.1 million in 2026/27 for the Teacher Assistants Programme.
“These funds are aimed at providing work and livelihood opportunities, particularly for youth and women,” he said.
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Rodgers said the Education Infrastructure grant would receive an incentive increase of R41.5 million in 2026/27 after the department met required milestones.
The phased merger of the Education Infrastructure grant and the School Infrastructure Backlogs grant would result in an aggregate increase of R505.3 million in 2026/27, he said.
