Uncategorized
By Johnathan Paoli
The Budget Justice Coalition (BJC) has issued a stark warning regarding proposed budget cuts to the country’s basic education sector, following a press briefing by Minister Siviwe Gwarube.
BJC spokesperson Gillian Pillay, representing a coalition of civil society organisations dedicated to equitable and rights-based budgeting, said resources needed to be mobilised to ensure that the state fulfilled its obligations to provide quality education.
“Budget cuts towards basic education will hinder the government’s ability to address critical issues such as teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms and inadequate infrastructure,” Pillay said in a statement on Friday.
The minister revealed that seven provincial education departments may not meet their financial obligations by the 2027/28 fiscal year, raising concerns about the future of quality education for millions of learners.
The briefing highlighted alarming budget constraints, with the department’s CFO Patrick Khunou estimating a cumulative pressure of between R78 billion and R118 billion across provinces from 2021/22 to 2027/28.
Gwarube described the potential cuts as “brutal,” emphasising that they would disproportionately impact vulnerable populations, thereby exacerbating existing inequalities and violating the constitutional right to education.
Since 2018, the coalition has been advocating for increased education funding and reported on the detrimental effects of budget cuts.
Pillay said the trend of below-inflation allocations to the provincial equitable share has left many education departments struggling to provide essential services, ultimately impacting economic participation and the long-term growth of South African society.
The Western Cape education department has already announced a staggering loss of 2,400 teaching posts due to a R3.8-billion budget shortfall over the next three years.
Other provinces are expected to follow suit, further limiting their capacity to fill existing teacher vacancies and worsening classroom overcrowding.
While the proposed 2024/25 budget includes a 3.2% increase in compensation for basic education personnel, the reality of inflation means this equates to a 2.2% real cut.
Pillay said this was insufficient to address the ongoing crisis of under-staffing in public schools, as recognised by the National Treasury.
The Gauteng education department has already warned that it is looking at slashing funding for critical programmes like school transport and learning materials to save jobs.
Pillay warned that such trade-offs were ultimately detrimental to the most marginalised learners, who may lose their right to quality education altogether.
With women constituting 70% of educators, she called on the government to consider gender implications in budgetary decisions, especially as reductions in public sector wages could further marginalise these vital contributors to society.
The coalition is advocating for innovative fiscal approaches to safeguard education rights and has proposed several solutions.
They include utilising the Gold and Foreign Exchange Contingency Reserve Account to reduce the budget deficit without further compromising public spending, leveraging the Government Employees Pension Fund to purchase bonds at favourable rates, and implementing progressive tax reforms to eliminate tax rebates for high-income earners.
It has also called for revising the education component of the Provincial Equitable Share formula to address disparities among provinces and adjusting post-provisioning norms to ensure equitable salary distributions in no-fee schools compared to fee-charging institutions.
She said the BJC was ready to engage with policymakers, teachers and communities to safeguard the rights of learners and ensure a just and equitable education system.
“Now is the time for forward-thinking strategies that promote sustainable growth and economic transformation,” Pillay said.
Meanwhile, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba, has similarly warned that the proposed cuts will exacerbate conditions in light of the growing unemployment in the country.
“In the sea of unemployment in which we are drowning, cutting education budgets spells disaster. If we are to educate a modern workforce, we should be increasing investment in education, not reducing it,” Makgoba said.
Speaking at the Anglican Church’s provincial Synod, he called on the national government to do all in its power to address the funding crisis in education, and not sacrifice feeding and transport services in an attempt to mitigate expected unemployment.
The Budget Justice Coalition (BJC) has issued a stark warning regarding proposed budget cuts to the country’s basic education sector, following a press briefing by Minister Siviwe Gwarube.
BJC spokesperson Gillian Pillay, representing a coalition of civil society organisations dedicated to equitable and rights-based budgeting, said resources needed to be mobilised to ensure that the state fulfilled its obligations to provide quality education.
“Budget cuts towards basic education will hinder the government’s ability to address critical issues such as teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms and inadequate infrastructure,” Pillay said in a statement on Friday.
The minister revealed that seven provincial education departments may not meet their financial obligations by the 2027/28 fiscal year, raising concerns about the future of quality education for millions of learners.
The briefing highlighted alarming budget constraints, with the department’s CFO Patrick Khunou estimating a cumulative pressure of between R78 billion and R118 billion across provinces from 2021/22 to 2027/28.
Gwarube described the potential cuts as “brutal,” emphasising that they would disproportionately impact vulnerable populations, thereby exacerbating existing inequalities and violating the constitutional right to education.
Since 2018, the coalition has been advocating for increased education funding and reported on the detrimental effects of budget cuts.
Pillay said the trend of below-inflation allocations to the provincial equitable share has left many education departments struggling to provide essential services, ultimately impacting economic participation and the long-term growth of South African society.
The Western Cape education department has already announced a staggering loss of 2,400 teaching posts due to a R3.8-billion budget shortfall over the next three years.
Other provinces are expected to follow suit, further limiting their capacity to fill existing teacher vacancies and worsening classroom overcrowding.
While the proposed 2024/25 budget includes a 3.2% increase in compensation for basic education personnel, the reality of inflation means this equates to a 2.2% real cut.
Pillay said this was insufficient to address the ongoing crisis of under-staffing in public schools, as recognised by the National Treasury.
The Gauteng education department has already warned that it is looking at slashing funding for critical programmes like school transport and learning materials to save jobs.
Pillay warned that such trade-offs were ultimately detrimental to the most marginalised learners, who may lose their right to quality education altogether.
With women constituting 70% of educators, she called on the government to consider gender implications in budgetary decisions, especially as reductions in public sector wages could further marginalise these vital contributors to society.
The coalition is advocating for innovative fiscal approaches to safeguard education rights and has proposed several solutions.
They include utilising the Gold and Foreign Exchange Contingency Reserve Account to reduce the budget deficit without further compromising public spending, leveraging the Government Employees Pension Fund to purchase bonds at favourable rates, and implementing progressive tax reforms to eliminate tax rebates for high-income earners.
It has also called for revising the education component of the Provincial Equitable Share formula to address disparities among provinces and adjusting post-provisioning norms to ensure equitable salary distributions in no-fee schools compared to fee-charging institutions.
She said the BJC was ready to engage with policymakers, teachers and communities to safeguard the rights of learners and ensure a just and equitable education system.
“Now is the time for forward-thinking strategies that promote sustainable growth and economic transformation,” Pillay said.
Meanwhile, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba, has similarly warned that the proposed cuts will exacerbate conditions in light of the growing unemployment in the country.
“In the sea of unemployment in which we are drowning, cutting education budgets spells disaster. If we are to educate a modern workforce, we should be increasing investment in education, not reducing it,” Makgoba said.
Speaking at the Anglican Church’s provincial Synod, he called on the national government to do all in its power to address the funding crisis in education, and not sacrifice feeding and transport services in an attempt to mitigate expected unemployment.
INSIDE EDUCATION