Gauteng MEC of Education Matome Chiloane has revealed priorities that the department will focus on for the 2023/24 medium term expenditure framework (MTEF) and consolidate on their five-year strategic plan.
Chiloane made the announcement on Friday while tabling the 2022/23 Budget Vote during a house sitting at the Gauteng Legislature (Johannesburg City Hall) in Joburg.
Delivering his first budget speech as MEC, he said his department has realigned its budget to fund and resource its 2020 to 2025 strategic plan and to respond to the premier's “Elevated Priorities” as expressed in the GGT 2030.
The 2023/24 budget education is R 63.4 billion which has increased from R56.7bn in 2022/23.
Responding to the elevated priorities included:
- Improving Grade 12 results, measuring progress and educational outcomes must be a priority.
- Expand access of ECD sites across poor and marginalised communities including residential hostels.
- ICT schools' roll out in the Townships must continue.
- Investing in skills of the future by continuing to open Schools of Specialisation to reach 35 schools by the end of the term, and introduce a system of multi-certification.
- Modernisation, investing in school infrastructure and online admissions by investing in school infrastructure in townships, ensure accelerated delivery of smart public infrastructure to meet the demand identified through the online admissions remains a critical priority.
- Integration and incorporation of wellness programmes, and rehabilitation of children in conflict with the law into the education system by assessing those in care centres and rehabilitation centres ready for schooling and ensuring they are reintegrated into the schooling system.
- School Safety must be a priority to ensure learner and teachers safety.
- Youth Development must be redefined to increase employability and youth employment.
Chilaone further said he was committed to ensuring that all phases of education are progressively targeted and that all grades will benefit from interventions that were designed to ensure that the root causes that are peculiar to those grades 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,” he said.
Recently, the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) report has revealed that 81% of Grade 4 pupils in South Africa can’t read for meaning.
Addressing the matter, Chiloane said the department has interventions programmes that will improve learner performance and attainment in a sustainable way.
Foundation Phase, Senior primary phase, transition from primary to secondary school and Senior secondary were the interventions that the MEC mentioned.
“Foundation Phase intervention focusing on improving basic literacy and numeracy and improving language competence for transition to a new language of learning and teaching in the foundation phase. This includes the universalisation of Grade R,” he said.
The 2023/24 conditional grant budget amounts to R3.2 billion:
• R1,7 billion has been allocated to the Education Infrastructure Grant.
• R36,3 million has been allocated to the HIV and Aids (Life Skills Education) Grant.
• R1,0 billion has been allocated to the National School Nutrition Programme Grant.
• R60,7 million has been allocated to the Mathematics, Science and Technology Grant.
• R36,0 million has been allocated to the Learners with Profound Intellectual Disabilities Grant.
• R2.7 million has been allocated to the Expanded Public Works Programme Incentive Grant.
• R9,5 million has been allocated to the Social Sector Expanded Public Works Programme Integrated Grant.
• R246 million has been allocated to the Early Childhood Development Grant.
According to the 2023/24 budget overview, an additional R3.6 billion was added to support the department on its duties, which is a 6,2% percentage.
Meanwhile, Chilaone said the phase four of the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI) appointments were still under way for cohort two. The first cohort resumed in February.
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