Treasury's decision not to allocate extra funding imperils compulsory Grade R roll-out

Daily Maverick

3 days ago

While the Bela Act makes Grade R attendance compulsory, the National Treasury's refusal to allocate additional funding leaves provinces struggling to deliver on the promise of universal early childhood education.
The National Treasury has turned down the Department of Basic Education's request for additional funds to implement compulsory Grade R schooling.
Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube confirmed the Treasury's stance during her 2025/26 budget vote speech in Parliament, acknowledging that although the Department of Basic Education's budget rose by more than 8% to over R35-billion, it fell short of meeting the cost required for universal access to Grade R schooling.
Gwarube did not mince words about the consequences: provinces must absorb the significant costs from within already stretched budgets.
The enactment of the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Act in December 2024 marked a watershed moment, officially making Grade R attendance compulsory for all children in SA.
The law was 'the culmination of over three decades of careful policy development, expert recommendations and legislative process', said Equal Education Law Centre legal researchers Daniel Peter Al-Naddaf and Katherine Sutherland.
'This year marks 24 years since Minister Kader Asmal launched Education White Paper 5 on Early Childhood Development, which recorded Grade R as the first year of formal education. This recommendation originated from the South African Preschool Study Team in August 1994 — almost 31 years ago,' they said.
'It took six years to reach a White Paper and another 23 years to become law through the Bela Act in September 2024. Compulsory Grade R was not a rushed policy decision.
'Yet, after 30 years of planning, implementation is failing due to lack of funding. The irony is that the very government that spent three decades developing this right now renders it meaningless through budgetary neglect.'
Al-Naddaf and Sutherland noted that basic education is a constitutionally protected right that must be fulfilled immediately. By including Grade R in this definition, the law established not only a duty for parents to send their children to school, but also an immediate right for children to receive this education, regardless of when it might be convenient for the government.
Taking from Peter to pay Paul
During her address, Gwarube said the Department of Basic Education was unable to secure additional funding from the National Treasury for the undertaking, meaning that provinces must fund it from their allocated budgets.
'Our goal is clear: every child must enter Grade R ready to learn in all respects. We urgently need additional funding for compulsory Grade R, as required by the Bela Act,' she said.
Al-Naddaf and Sutherland observed that, although there was a real increase this year in the consolidated Basic Education budget when measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), per learner spending declined when calculated using a sector-specific inflation rate, the Basic Education Price Index (Bepi).
The Bepi provides a more accurate reflection of true spending power in the sector, as it captures factors like rising teacher salaries — the main cost driver — better than CPI adjustments alone.
'When factoring in this education-specific inflation measure, alongside projected learner enrolment growth and the formalisation of compulsory Grade R, it becomes evident that per-learner spending in real terms will decline to its lowest level since at least the 2013/14 financial year,' said Al-Naddaf and Sutherland.
When asked how ready provinces were to fund and implement compulsory Grade R from their current budgets, Al-Naddaf and Sutherland said that, for many years, provinces had been expected to do more with fewer resources.
This ongoing strain has left provinces, particularly those already facing funding challenges, in a vulnerable position as they try to fulfil the new mandate. The department has estimated that implementing universal Grade R will cost R17-billion.
'After a decade of chronic underfunding and budget cuts, it is unreasonable for the Treasury to expect provinces to somehow absorb a R17-billion obligation within budgets already cut to the bone, especially when provinces derive around 97% of their income from the national government,' said Al-Naddaf and Sutherland.
'It is estimated that the education system will need to incorporate an additional 200,000 Grade R learners to realise universal Grade R, and costs that provinces must bear to achieve this include additional Grade R classrooms; the upskilling of underqualified Grade R practitioners; furniture; playground equipment; learner packs; per learner funding for school budgets; and Grade R educator salaries.'
They noted that several provincial education departments were at risk of becoming insolvent this financial year, attributing this to years of chronic underfunding and mounting obligations imposed without matching resources.
Under-resourced schools
The Gauteng Department of Education is wrestling with a R31.1-billion infrastructure backlog, forcing learners into crumbling buildings or overcrowded classrooms. This gargantuan backlog does not include the 2,000 new classrooms required for the compulsory roll-out of Grade R.
In the Northern Cape, education officials say it will take at least five years to address the current shortfall of 252 classrooms.
Meanwhile, Limpopo appears, on paper, to have nearly universal Grade R access, with only nine schools lacking Grade R.
'However, if one looks at the number of enrolled Grade R learners in the province (128,721) and the total number of Grade R educators and practitioners (2,151), this would amount to an average teacher-to-educator ratio of 60 learners to one teacher,' said Al-Naddaf and Sutherland.
'Having Grade R available on paper is fundamentally different from meaningful implementation — true access requires quality education with adequate resources, and it is clear that quality education cannot be achieved under these severely under-resourced conditions.'
Al-Naddaf and Sutherland noted that many provinces had reported having to make trade-offs and redirecting funds from other vital programmes to fund universal Grade R.
The effects ripple across the education system:
Scholar transport budgets are slashed, making it harder for children in rural or remote areas to get to school.
The National School Nutrition Programme, meant to guarantee a basic meal to every child, now stretches thin resources to feed growing numbers of Grade R learners, risking a decline in the quality or quantity of food available.
Legislation versus purse strings
Gwarube acknowledged these difficult choices, reflecting in Parliament: 'We operate under extremely difficult fiscal conditions which require innovation, creativity and firm financial discipline in all our provinces.
'This is a clarion call to all our stakeholders in the sector and PEDs [provincial education departments] to tighten belts, accelerate delivery and guard against falling foul of their constitutional responsibilities of delivering quality education to all.'
Despite the funding setback, Gwarube outlined the department's plans to maximise its allocated resources. Early childhood development (ECD) is a particular focus, with the ECD conditional grant rising to R1.7-billion. Of this, R230-million is earmarked for a nutrition pilot programme targeted at the youngest learners, while R162-million will be invested in infrastructure for ECD programmes.
Gwarube also highlighted several targeted allocations designed to address specific educational challenges. More than R4.6-billion has been allocated to curriculum policy support and monitoring, and R1.2-billion will go towards the school workbook programme, ensuring that learners from Grade R to Grade 9 receive the necessary learning materials.
The minister announced that R57-million had been earmarked to advance mother-tongue-based bilingual education.
However, these pockets of targeted funding can't offset the overall resources required to give every child quality access to Grade R schooling, as the implementation of the Bela Act rests uneasily on fragile fiscal ground.
Al-Naddaf and Sutherland raised a constitutional warning: 'Treasury's refusal suggests that it believes it has the power to block the implementation of legislation by declining to fund it, even when this contravenes the rights of children.'
This, they argue, undermines the law and the 'immediately realisable' right to basic education enshrined in the Constitution.
'We are most concerned about the hundreds of thousands of children who will be affected. It is vital that we consider what it means for democracy and the rule of law when the Treasury is effectively able to veto a law by refusing to fund it. It may be education today, but what guarantee does anyone have that their rights will have the funding to mean something?'
Daily Maverick sent questions to the National Treasury, the Department of Basic Education and Gwarube's spokesperson. No responses had been received by the time of publication. DM