A team will be assigned to assist the education departments in the provinces, with budget planning as well as planning to support local schools. This team will rescue states in financial crisis as the 2024 study by the Department of Basic Education revealed that state departments will still be struggling financially.
The MEC of the department, Ms. Siviwe Gwarube, said that these financial problems have started in three provinces, which are KwaZulu-Natal, Free State and Northern Cape.
“That is why we will appoint a team of experts to deal with helping the provinces with the budget. It will help the departments on how schools should be provided with resources,” he said while presenting the budget of R38.2 billion for the department in Parliament.
He issued a strict order to the states that they must be careful at all times to pay school fees on time, known as Norms and Standards.
“It is important to pay this money on time so that learning and teaching are not interrupted. This money is the backbone of education, so there is no choice whether to pay it or not. It must be paid at all times,” he said.
He lamented that many schools are facing the problem of not being paid during this time which is burdening them.
KZN is one of the provinces that have been taken to court by the teachers union Sadtu, they want the court to compel the department to pay this money. It is a history that this department is facing problems of not being able to pay contractors on time. This has been done by the Department of the Treasury in the province, and assigned to be in charge of financial operations. There will be no financial movement without the approval of the Treasurer’s representative.
Mrs. Gwarube also announced that she will not only announce the matric pass rate, but she will have many things including how the students did in subjects such as Maths and Science as well as others.
“We want to reveal to the people of this country, the full picture of the passing of students. We don’t want to end with just announcing the passing rate and which province is the best.”
He also announced that R16.3 billion will be invested in improving infrastructure in schools. He will also oversee an investigation led by an independent law firm, in the matter of the tender that caused a stir for the purchase of primary school textbooks.
He also revealed that there are 1.2 million students studying in ECD institutions and said that they are equal to the salaries of teachers who teach Grade R.
“It will cost R10 billion to carry out this work of equalizing the salaries of Grade R and teachers who teach basic education. Even if the Treasury has not yet invested this money, we have taken R800 million from the ECD grant so that we can do this quickly.”
The school feeding program was allocated R11 billion, ECD was allocated R4.6 billion.