The crisis that is the state of basic education in South Africa is not getting the attention and funding it deserves.
This is according to education experts, activists and rights groups after Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana presented the national Budget Speech at the city hall in Cape Town on Wednesday.
Equal Education Law Centre (EELC) said South Africa, which is failing to provide the bare minimum to create a safe and conducive environment for learning for all children, has effectively cut its education budget.
“The government has committed R254-billion over the next three years to bail out Eskom. Meanwhile, the future of our country’s learners looks dark,” according to Tatiana Kazin, a legal researcher at EELC.
“Between 2022/23 and 2025/26, the Department of Basic Education is set to receive a below-inflation yearly increase averaging 5.6%. In real terms, and given the current rate of inflation, this is a cut. Moreover, it is a cut in the face of increased learner enrolments. This means even less money per learner.”
EELC’s senior attorney Tarryn Cooper-Bell said the walk-in law clinic continues to battle for safe sanitation for all children, safe scholar transport and adequate space in classrooms.
“This has been going on for years. Yet this education budget is the same story as usual. The Department of Basic Education can’t use the same recipe and expect a different cake,” said Cooper-Bell.
“We join our sister organisation, Equal Education, in calling this what it is – an #EducationBlackout.”
Matshidiso Lencoasa, a budget researcher at Section 27, also expressed disappointment at the allocations to education.
“Overall, we’re disappointed with the education and allocation because the funding increases from R302-billion to R309-billion this year, but this is only 2.5% nominal increase, which is below the inflation rate that the National Treasury has forecast for the year, which means that the value to education investments has been eroded,” she said.
She added that there are, however, some positives in the Budget. “The school nutrition programme has way above inflation increases,” she said, noting that the education infrastructure grants and the school infrastructure backlog growth have been allocated above-inflation increases.
“So, there’s a lot of investments in the physical infrastructure and school nutrition programmes, which we welcome. However, the education personnel is only increasing by 3.5%, which is below the inflation rate.”
Lencoasa said Section 27 views the additional allocation in wages to cover the shortfalls and compensation as unsustainable, because it seems over time, the government is spending less money, or that the budget for education personnel is not keeping up with the increase in average pay.
“So that means we might see more overcrowding and it just seems like we’re paying teachers less so that we can pay for debt-servicing costs.”
Kazim explained that it was striking that the early childhood development (ECD) sector was not mentioned in the Budget Speech, especially given that it was said to be a priority in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address over a week ago.
“A deeper dive into the budget does show that the ECD conditional grant is set to increase by around 50% in 2024/25 and then by around 20% the following year,” said Kazim.
We welcome the Department of Basic Education’s commitment to increase the number of children benefitting from the ECD subsidy, provide pre-registration support for ECD centres, and pilot an ECD nutrition programme.
Kazim noted: “According to the ECD Census 2021, only 33% of ECD programmes are benefiting from the subsidy. The reach of the ECD subsidy must increase dramatically in order to ensure that all children get a strong start in life.
“It is not clear that the budget will be enough to cover an extension of the ECD subsidy on this kind of scale.
“Moreover, we are seriously concerned that the amount of the ECD subsidy looks set to remain at R17 per eligible child per day. This amount has not increased since 2019. Meanwhile, the cost of living and providing ECD services has risen significantly.
“It’s all very well-stretching the reach of the ECD subsidy, but it doesn’t mean much when the amount remains so low.”
Laura Brooks, an economist for ECD programme Ifa Labantwana, said she was encouraged by some positive indications that attention was being paid to improving child development services.
“Presently, nutrition support is couched within the subsidy and so the fact that there’s a pilot plan in the sector is very interesting,” she said, adding that she is hoping that it signals that the Department of Basic Education wants to provide nutrition support beyond the subsidies and those that are unable to provide adequate nutrition for children.
Bonus Ndlovu of the Budget Justice Coalition of SA said South Africa spends a lot of money on education compared to even countries in the developed countries. “But still, we don’t see improvement in terms of our educational outcomes and economic growth,” he said.
“It’s good and well to budget the money and want more money to be spent on education social grants, but we’re not addressing the root of the problem. Combating crime and corruption should be at the top of our priorities, that’s where we need to spend the bulk of our money,” Ndlovu said.
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