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Eastern Cape Education MEC Fundile Gade intends to prioritise bridging the digital divide, the use of mother tongue for teaching in schools and strengthening crime prevention programmes, particularly in schools in the Nelson Mandela Bay.
These plans were outlined when the MEC tabled his Budget Policy Speech in the Bhisho Legislature for the 2024/25 financial year on Wednesday.
The budget allocation for the 2024 MTEF period is R42,441 billion and other key priorities are “the education infrastructure, the National School Nutrition Programme, supporting learners with profound intellectual disabilities, Early Childhood Development Centres, and ensuring that educators are paid timeously.”
Ggade also vowed to address the recurring issues around scholar transport, working hand-in-hand with multiple stakeholders, including the Department of Transport.
He said, “103 000 learners will benefit from the provision of scholar transport. We are actively engaging with all stakeholders to ensure every eligible learner benefits from this vital state intervention.”
The MEC said for the next five years, the department would be guided by five pillars in the Education System Transformation Plan, to ensure that every learner has access to equal education. The focus will be Capacity Building, Economic Drive, 5th Industrial Revolution, Inclusive Education and Social Cohesion; and Infrastructure Development.
This plan will see the deployment of smart classrooms continuing in 12 schools, one in each district, while schools of skills - like agricultural schools - will be further integrated into society. Robotics, Coding and Maritime Studies will continue being piloted in 186 schools across the province.
To address the issue of illiteracy in learners, the department will engage partners to support reading initiatives and consult with other provinces to learn from their reading strategies to produce high quality readers.
“To this end, schools will conduct Early Grade Reading and School-Based Assessments to enable targeted intervention.” The sector has also established support programs for deaf or hard of hearing pupils who have cochlear implants in Greenwood and Nelson Mandela Primary School in Mthatha, by deploying nurses, specialists and support staff to ensure continuous learning.
Despite the annual allocation of R1.6 billion for the infrastructure development programme, MEC Gade expressed some concern. “The Eastern Cape Department of Education is dealing with an infrastructure backlog of R80 billion. Efforts are being made to reduce the backlog by constructing new schools, rationalizing, and realigning small and unviable schools.”
Gade said additional issues affecting school infrastructure include natural disasters and social issues like the burning of schools and school robberies by community members. “The government of the seventh administration must focus on the use of Inter-Governmental Relations structures to address these issues.” He has additionally pleaded that communities take responsibility for and protect government assets.
The department also promises that all schools will be adequately resourced and maintained, with minor maintenance to be provided within the Beautification Programme. “The department will also implement solar panels for energy in educational institutions, to counteract the perpetual threat posed by loadshedding.” Phase V of the fencing program also continues to increase safety in school, by prioritizing 60 crime-ridden areas in the Sarah Baartman District, Buffalo City Metro and Nelson Mandela Bay.
The MEC assured that with the mentioned interventions and plans in place, the department will reach the desirable targeted pass rate of 85% for the 2024 school year.
Meanwhile, Equal Education has pleaded that more work be done to address the infrastructure backlog. Spokesperson for the lobby group, Itumeleng Mothlabane, said the eradication of toilets remains an issue. “The MEC needs to advocate for more budget allocation for the eradication of pit latrines. These toilets were made illegal in 2016 but they still exist and are still being built in schools.”
Both Section27 and Equal Education acknowledged that tighter monitoring systems were needed, to accelerate infrastructure development in schools.
Matshidiso Lencoasa from the organisation Section27: “Notably, we are looking forward to seeing the infrastructure budget fulfil its mandate. The Eastern Cape is quite notorious in underspending in this area, so we are interested to see consequence management so they can urgently eradicate schools built with inappropriate materials. We also look forward to the eradication of pit latrines, as things stand there are over 800 schools with pit latrines.”
Mothlabane concluded by saying, “we have seen a decrease in the budget allocation in the past few years, and this is hugely because of the money returned to National Treasury and irregular expenditure. We need the MEC to continuously monitor the sector’s relationship with the private actors providing school infrastructure. It is only through efficient spending that we are going to accelerate infrastructure development.”
