Durban — Equal Education (EE) and the Equal Education Law Centre (EELC) say the recent adjustment to the budget costs made by the National Treasury this week would put the future of learners on the line.
This comes after Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana presented his medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS) on Wednesday. The MTBPS cited changes to the 2023/24 main Budget and the government’s spending priorities for the next three years.
According to Godongwana, the policy statement set out the strategy for avoiding a fiscal crisis and preventing the build-up of systemic risks to the economy.
It was further noted that departmental budgets would need to be cut as Godongwana cited a cumulative reduction in spending, estimated to be R154 billion, expected over the three-year medium-term expenditure framework period.
“In the current financial year, spending has been revised down by R21bn. This is still below prevailing underspending levels by departments and institutions which averaged R32bn per annum over the past three financial years.
Godongwana said that for 2024/25 and 2025/26, the reductions were R64bn and R69bn respectively. He said these were based on current revenue projections and did not take into account future revision to revenue forecast.
The minister said the implications of these adjustments would be partially offset by departments implementing the cost containment guidelines issued by the National Treasury, implementing control measures on payroll systems in line with the directive issued by the Department of Public Service and Administration, as well as implementing the recommendations from spending review conducted in the past two fiscal years.
EE’s head of research, Elizabeth Biney, said the cuts were problematic and potentially gave rise to an #EducationBlackout, which she defined as a hashtag which they developed to explain the crisis within the education sector.
This included issues of infrastructure, poor reading and numeracy outcomes and the spending habits within the sector.
“It is basically us trying to equate it to the Eskom blackout situation that we are so focused on solving. Meanwhile, learners are being left in the dark as well,” she said.
Biney said it was important for the National Treasury to allocate sufficient funds for education in the country. “It goes without saying that education is a very important function in the country and the economy as a whole. Therefore, for us to have better professionals who can also assist in solving some of the country’s issues, they need to go through the education system.
Biney said basic education was a basic human right declared by the courts and should be a priority. A lack of prioritisation translated into violation of those rights as many schools still lacked adequate teachers and infrastructure. She added that it was important for Early Childhood Development to be prioritised, as it was the foundation of schooling and the key to achieving high school and tertiary education.
She called on the National and Provincial Treasuries and Parliament to stop austerity budgeting immediately and reverse the cuts to ensure pro-poor spending, and adopt a progressive approach to basic education funding to ensure that education budgets grow in line with inflation and learner enrolment.
Biney said proper monitoring and oversight must be implemented to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in education departments’ use of available resources to achieve quality service delivery to school communities.
Sunday Tribune