Gauteng Department of Education’s 2024/25 Budget Vote speech by Mr Matome Chiloane, MEC for Education
31 July 2024
Gauteng Education MEC, Mr Matome Chiloane, on Wednesday, 31 July 2024, tabled the Gauteng Department of Education’s (GDE) 2024/25 Budget Vote during a house sitting at the Gauteng Provincial Legislature in Marshalltown, Johannesburg.
There’s indeed no doubt that Education remains a powerful tool for change. No matter what you’re fighting for, leading with a sharp mind can create more positive change than running toward challenges with a sharp sword.
As such, our approach to education transformation in Gauteng is multi-faceted and is directed to address the quality of learning through quality improvement strategies that will improve the classroom performance of teachers and the active learning of children in classrooms across all schools in the province, simultaneously we are introducing interventions that compensates for poor family literacy level and the impact of poverty affecting a large percentage of our communities in Gauteng. It is for this reason that we wholly support the focus on Townships, Informal Settlements and Hostels.
2024/2025 Budget
Despite the reductions made to some conditional grants of the Department, funds were made available for reprioritisation and further fiscal consolidation measures. The Department’s budget has seen a marginal increase for the 2024/25 financial year which amounts to R65,8 billion. This represents an increase of R2,4 billion (3.8%) from the previous year. The budget grew by 27.4% from 2020/21 to 2024/25, a rise of R14,1 billion over five years. The budget is anticipated to grow at an average annual rate of 4.1% over the medium-term. This is an unambiguous demonstration of the commitment of the ANC government to education as a national priority.
Compensation of Employees
The Compensation of Employees remains the largest cost centre of the education budget, amounting to R48,6 billion or 73.9% of the total budget. This reflects an increase of 5.8% or R2,6 billion from last year. This increase is attributable to the need to respond to the cost of implementing the public-service wage agreement. This provision was initially extended to the 2024 MTEF period to cover the carry-through cost of the said wage agreement. A revision to the initial provision is that a portion of these funds is redirected to the conditional grants that fund the compensation of employees.
Responding the provincial Education priorities
The priorities for education responds to the key challenges facing the people of Gauteng. We need to ensure that education contributes to the reduction of inequalities in our population. Foremost amongst these challenges is access to quality schooling in the communities we live in and to respond to the high level of migration into the province.
In his State of the Province Address, the Premier, unveiled the Elevated Priorities of the 7th Administration to focus on the priorities elevated for accelerated implementation for the remainder of the Sixth Administration. This is within the context of the adopted 2024-29 MTDP and Gauteng 2030.
Our Approach to the Education Priorities:
Improving learning
We are committed to ensuring that all phases of education are progressively targeted and that all grades will benefit from interventions that are designed to ensure that the root causes that are peculiar to that phase and are addressed. We are not implementing a one size fits all solution to the challenges experienced in each phase. At the centre of the framework is a commitment to deliver quality education in the classroom every day. To do this, we need to ensure that the inputs, for learners, teachers, and management, are provided and that there are programmes to compensate for the ravages of poverty and poor family literacy.
Our approach is focussed on aligning the whole system to support these interventions and to ensure that we use our scarce resources in a targeted schools-based approach that supports classroom practice in sustainably improving learner performance and attainment. The four targeted intervention programmes are the:
· Foundation Phase intervention focusing on improving basic literacy and numeracy and improving language competence. This includes the universalization of Grade R.
· Senior primary phase intervention focusing on improving language practice in the language of learning and teaching and mathematics.
· Transition from primary to secondary school intervention programme will focus on improving language practice, mathematics, science, and accounting.
· Senior secondary intervention programme will focus on improving learner performance in six key subject areas where learner performance is the weakest.
Investing in Skills of the Future
Investing in skills of the future focuses on providing access to relevant curriculum offerings through schools of specialisation, technical high schools, and special schools. In addition, we will introduce a Multi-Certification Skills programme for learners across all schools.
Multi-Certification Skills Programme
The multi-certification skills programme aims to equip Grade 1-12 learners with skills not offered by the academic syllabus, including coding, robotics, rocketry, drone technology, sign language and more. By the time the learners finish their schooling after 12 years, they will have a matric certificate plus 12 additional skills-based certificates, and we start the programme from grade one. The programme would be gradually rolled out at public schools across the province, but institutions in townships and informal settlements would be prioritised.
The Multi-Certification Skills Programme (MCSP) was officially launched in 2023 at the Katlehong Engineering School of Specialisation. To date we have over 113 schools participating in 17 skills programmes across the province from Grades 1-12. We have over 515 learners for 2024 in the Technical Skills Programmes that includes plumbing, welding, EGD, automotive and technical skills. In addition, we have over 16 900 learners participating in the 4IR skills programmes which includes Coding and Robotics and over 190 000 in the General Skills programmes.
Schools of Specialisation (SoS)
In responding to the challenge of scarce skills development as outlined in GGT 2030, the province is implementing a strategy to reorganise and turnaround our schools, particularly schools in the township. School of Specialisation will assist in addressing critical skills shortages in Gauteng and in South Africa at large. The Schools of Specialisation will also serve as laboratories to deepen teaching and learning methods that can be extended to nearby schools, instead of being islands of excellence with limited impact on the broader education community. The Department is rolling out 36 Schools of Specialisation before the end of the 2024-25 financial year. To date 35 schools of specialisation have been officially opened.
Early Childhood Development (ECD)
Gauteng is committed to improving early childhood development and more children are accessing this crucial building block of learning. Investment in Early Childhood Development (ECD) is well-documented to be one of the most effective, long-term strategies for poverty eradication.
The Department will continue the expansion of Grade R to all public schools. In addition, pre-Grade R sites will be registered with Education Department to ensure that there is an adequate mix of public, private, and community-based pre-Grade R sites.
Pre-Grade R
ECD function shift from the Department of Social Development to the Department of Education is now completed and the Department is assuming full responsibility for the sector. The national audit of ECD sites have revealed over 10 250 ECD sites witharound 2 527 sites are fully or partially registered. The Department aims to finalise the registration of all outstanding ECD sites by 2024/25 financial year and remains committed to building new ECD facilities, enhancing and increasing teacher training programmes and providing subsidies and establishing more ECD centres.
To improve living standards in townships, informal settlements, and hostels (TISH), the Department identified 6 hostels in which Early Childhood Development (ECD) Centres in will be prioritized. To date we have completed and functional centres in Denver, Mzimhlophe, Sebokeng, Boipatong, and Kwa-Thema Hostels. This intervention will eventually be expanded to the 15 Hostels across the province.
The GDE is in the process of building ECD of the Future centres. The first such centre is being built in Tshwane corridor - in Soshanguve. The Department is committed to rolling out ECDs of the future across the 5 corridors. The ECD of the future centres will have classrooms with indoor splash pools, ICT centres, a water recycling area, and mini sports areas.
Universalising access to Grade R
The Department has made great strides in achieving its goals for the universalization of grade R. The Grade R learner enrolment in registered schools for 2023 (system-wide) is 132 131. We will now undertake a headcount in ECD sites transferred to Education to determine the number of children in private Grade R classes.
Poverty Alleviation is helping to close the Gap in learner achievement.
The impact of our pro-poor interventions is beginning to show in the performance of learners from no-fee schools. Access to free educations, nutrition, scholar transport help to contain the effect of poverty on the child’s ability to learn.
School Nutrition
The National School Nutrition Programme which aims to alleviate short-term hunger and contribute to the general health and development of needy learners. The Department is currently providing a warm meal to over 1,701 million learners in over 1 659 participating schools across all 5 Quintiles.
Scholar Transport
As part of the poverty alleviation policy of the Department, bus routes that are efficient to transport learners to the nearest school are being implemented. To ensure that learners enjoy a full day of learning, departmental officials regularly monitor the bus route to ensure learner are transported safely and that the transport arrives at schools timeously and collects learners timeously. The Department is doing a rigorous inspection of all scholar transport vehicles to ensure that our learners are bussed to school in a safe and reliable vehicle. The Department currently transports 222 937 learners to over 700 Schools across our 15 School Districts.
School Sport
The Department will continue the Wednesday Sports Programme in public ordinary and special schools. The programme will include athletics, football, swimming, cricket, volleyball, rugby, netball, chess, and boxing. The Department has prioritised resources towards school sports programmes which cover multiple sporting disciplines for learners with special educational needs. A focus of the programme is implementation and regular participation amongst township schools.
The programme focuses on no fee schools and depressed communities in the province and is a targeted and focused attempt to engage youth in regular participation, engender school and community support and lessen the effects of the social ills prevalent in society. The introduction of the Champions League for football further incentivises participation as schools then have the opportunity to participate against each other at the highest level. The other benefits include progression through the Winter Games programme to a provincial and national selection.
There are currently 800 township schools participating in the Wednesday League programme that includes the codes of football and netball. The targeted age groups are under11, 13, 15 and 17. This programme is jointly coordinated by GDE and GSRAC. The plan is for the introduction of Volleyball in the 2024/25 financial year.
Infrastructure
The Department seen the demand for classroom space increasing rapidly. The average learner growth in the province, over the last five years, has been approximately 2%, this is on average over 50 000 new learners per year. There is no other province that is experiencing this level of demand for learning spaces than Gauteng.
The Department’s Infrastructure plan will deal with both the provisioning of new infrastructure as well as the maintenance, rehabilitation and upgrading of existing infrastructure. In addition, the plan deals with the need for and the utilisation of the infrastructure, as well as with the changing situations in relation to emerging needs and utilisation.
Over R1,6 billion is targeted at building 17 new schools in high-pressured communities through the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development. The GDE’s current New and Replacement School Programme included 17 schools.
In addition, the Gauteng Department of Education supported by the Gauteng Infrastructure Financing Agency (GIFA) received grant funding for the construction of 18 schools from National Treasury and the department was awarded R1.5 billion from the National Treasury over three years. This is a special province-specific grant from the National Budget for Infrastructure Fund. This is a major boost from the National Treasury over three years to build new schools and replacement schools for dilapidating mobile and asbestos schools. The contracts have been awarded and site handovers completed. A further 4 schools will also be built through the Development Bank of South Africa.
Roll out of e-classrooms.
Significant progress has been achieved in rolling out the Tech-enabled learning environment. To date 604 schools are benefiting from the E-learning programme. Over 8 832 LED boards, over 21 309 teacher devices and 160 583 learner devices have been distributed. This Tech-enabled learning environment will be fully rolled out in all high schools by 2024/25.
Gauteng City Region Academy (GCRA) Bursary Programme
The Gauteng City Region Academy (GCRA) Bursary Programme is aimed at building a pool of skilled talent in the Gauteng City Region, funding a full bursary to the young people of Gauteng largely, to pursue studies at various accredited and registered Post School Education and Training (PSET) institutions across the country. The provisioning of bursaries a targeted 4 500 deserving learners in the 2024 academic year, of which 4 106 bursaries have been awarded to date. Partnerships between secondary schools and tertiary institutions including TVET colleges will be strengthened to assist learners who have completed their studies to integrate into the labour market, through meaningful career pathing and sustainable collaboration with industry experts.
Issued by Steve Mabona, Spokesperson, Gauteng Department of Education, 31 July 2024
