Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced on Wednesday that National Treasury has allocated R19.1 billion over the medium term to retain approximately 11,000 teachers in classrooms.

Last year, IOL reported that the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) revealed plans to cut over 2,400 teaching jobs due to budget constraints.

As a result, when schools in the Western Cape reopened on 15 January, they did so with fewer teachers, forcing the remaining staff to manage larger classes. The provincial education department attributed the job cuts to budget shortfalls, which it blamed on National Treasury.

In his budget speech, Godongwana emphasised that this investment aims to address high learner-teacher ratios and ensure the effective functioning of the education sector.

“Our learner-teacher ratios remain higher than we would like, meaning that we still need more teachers in classrooms,” he said.

To prevent employee compensation from limiting funding for other important areas, R19.1 billion will be added over the medium term to retain these teachers.

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Godongwana also highlighted that in provincial education departments, salaries account for 76% of the budget, leaving only 24% for critical needs like school infrastructure, learner meals, and essential stationery and textbooks.

He stressed the importance of balancing employee compensation with other necessary spending.

Additionally, the budget allocates an extra R10 billion over the medium term to increase the early childhood development (ECD) subsidy from R17 per day per child to R24.

This increase aims to improve access to ECD for around 700,000 more children up to the age of four.

hope.ntanzi@iol.co.za

IOL Politics