A day before Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana tables the medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS) in parliament, the Equal Education has called on the National Treasury to stop skimping on funds for the improvement of education.
The MTBPS will set out government’s spending priorities over the next three
years and any changes to this year’s budget.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Equal Education challenged Godongwana to pump more money into fixing South Africa’s schools.
Equal Education researcher Jane Borma said while the budget policy statement will be the first since the end of the national state of disaster, “the story is not new, South Africa’s basic education system is in crisis”.
“Everyday, learners across the country face harsh inequalities and indignities at school,
denying them their constitutional right to basic education,” said Borma.
“Equal Education demands that this MTBPS not just be business as usual, but that schools get the money needed to tackle the many challenges they experience. The lack of safe and proper school infrastructure remains one of the biggest hurdles to teaching and learning.
“While important progress has been made since the end of apartheid, South Africa’s public schooling system still suffers from a lack of access to basic services such as water and sanitation, and overcrowded classrooms.”
Borma added that Covid-19 worsened the inequalities, saying even after schools reopened for full-time teaching and learning, learners in under-resourced schools were not able to return to class everyday, because their schools did not meet social distancing protocols and hygiene standards.
“It is mind-blowing that the DBE [Department of Basic Education] and provincial education departments, while scrambling to ensure learners catch up on the significant learning losses, would also try and water down legislation that tries to fix these problems.”
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