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IOL News
an hour ago
- Business
- IOL News
Education sector grapples with financial strain from national government underinvestment
ducation sector faces severe financial strain due to a decade of chronic underinvestment by the national government Image: Supplied The Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, revealed that the Education sector is facing severe financial strain due to a decade of chronic underinvestment by the national government. The Minister indicated that the repeated redirection of public funds to bail out struggling state-owned enterprises, combined with poor financial management at the provincial government level, is also causing severe financial strain in the sector. This was revealed after the Minister recently initiated the unprecedented review of all nine provinces for the 2024 financial year. 'The education sector is under extraordinary pressure; without urgent intervention and robust financial planning, several provincial education departments risk becoming insolvent before the end of the current financial year. There is no room for complacency," said Gwarube. Several provinces are experiencing escalating financial challenges, most notably KZN. The South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) in KZN revealed that the department has collapsed financially. Sadtu provincial secretary Nomarashiya Caluza indicated that the department owes close to R250 million to the eThekwini Municipality for water delivered by water tankers, as detailed in the municipality's financial report released last month. The report also showed that the KZN education department has faced serious budget cuts over the past few years and has revealed that it is struggling to meet its obligations. It has emerged that it has not paid all the suppliers of the school nutrition programme and missed salary payments to Grade R teachers, who were expected to be paid in May. Gwarube said the department has recently met with KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Education, Sipho Nhlamuka, and representatives from the Office of the Premier to discuss the province's mounting challenges. Gwarube said the department is engaging with the National Treasury and other education departments from all affected provinces to explore interventions aimed at addressing their most urgent service delivery challenges. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading The minister has assured the public that the department will remain committed to working with both provincial and national stakeholders to shield learners from the worst impacts of the current financial crisis. "All MECs and Heads of Provincial Education Departments to submit comprehensive plans safeguarding the continuity of education service delivery and addressing irregularities in school personnel management," said Gwarube. Gwarube is calling on all all MECs and Heads of Department to fully account for their performance in key service delivery areas, by ensuring timely disbursement of statutory school payments, including school allocation, restoration or continuity of basic services at affected public schools, such as electricity, water, security, learner transport, and the National School Nutrition Programme. IOL News
The Citizen
08-05-2025
- The Citizen
School feeding scheme in crisis as payments stall
Amid payment chaos, the DA and unions demand urgent action to save the school nutrition programme. The KwaZulu-Natal education department yesterday made an undertaking to pay National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) service providers amid threats by the DA to have the department placed under administration for its 'poor management' of the programme. While the department insists it has so far paid 78% of the NSNP service providers, the contractors said those who have been paid have not been paid in full. NSNP association representative Siboniso Xulu said despite the government having set aside funds for the NSNP programme, the KZN education department has shifted the financial burden for running the programme to the service providers. Unpaid National School Nutrition Programme contracts 'We have not been paid for the work we did in March and April. We are forced to use our own money to keep the feeding scheme going because if we don't, the children will starve,' he said. 'As things stand, some of us have not been paid a cent in the past two months while those who have been paid, have been paid half of what is due to them.' South African Democratic Teachers Union provincial secretary Dolly Caluza said the union believes 'the department has collapsed; it can't do anything. As we speak, some Grade R practitioners have not been paid'. ALSO READ: Tinned fish missing: Saps arrest suspects with stolen school food 'The department is struggling to pay service providers for the school nutrition programme, acting personnel are not paid their acting allowances and some officials cannot attend important workshops.' She said Grade R teachers have had their employment contracts terminated by the department. The teachers were on annual renewable contracts that ended at the end of March every year. 'This does not make sense as the department always renews the contracts. Grade R teachers not paid 'We don't understand why they remove them in the first place, so that workers are not subjected to the pain of not getting their salaries,' Caluza said. 'These workers are also subjected to a salary that does not match the qualifications and experience they have. 'We have engaged the employer on this and it promised to ask the office of the premier to assist with review of the issue, but it appears that was unsuccessful as there is no indication that these Grade R teachers would be relieved of this pain any time soon.' ALSO READ: Ex-school officials arrested for stealing over R35 000 in school nutrition funds The DA's KwaZulu-Natal education spokesperson and MPL Sakhile Mngadi said this was not an administrative hiccup but a 'gross dereliction of duty and a broader systemic failure' by the provincial education authorities.
Eyewitness News
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Eyewitness News
Thousands of teachers march against budget cuts
Pretoria's city centre turned into a sea of red, black and green on Wednesday as thousands of South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) members marched against austerity measures and budget cuts in public education. The crowd, ushered by heavy police presence, sang struggle songs and waved placards as they marched to the offices of National Treasury and the departments of Basic and Higher Education. Some members of COSATU and the SACP also joined the protest. The teachers' union highlighted concerns over government's recent budget cuts and its negative impact on education and teacher morale. This included poor infrastructure at schools like toilets, dilapidated classrooms and not having a library, increased workloads, overcrowded classrooms, and growing threats of violence on school premises. In a press conference last year Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube admitted that provincial education departments were under huge financial pressures. She said these have been years in the making due to aggressive budget cuts, poor spending and a stagnant economy. Gwarube revealed that the total projected budget shortfall across provinces from the 2021/22 to 2027/28 financial years amounts to about R118-billion. 'These budget pressures are not just numbers on spreadsheets, but they translate to fewer teachers, insufficient textbooks, and fewer admin support staff which means that teachers spend more time on admin work, thereby reducing learning and teaching time. In essence, the very fabric of our children's future is now under threat if we continue on this current trajectory,' said Gwarube. At the march, COSATU President Zingiswa Losi, said: 'Education is an apex priority in our nation. This is the future of our kids, the future of this nation. We can't afford to fail them.' SADTU spokesperson Nomusa Cembi said: 'Our members feel that they are not being cared for by the department, especially in rural and township schools. We believe that very little is done to look at the mental well-being of the teachers.' Cembi drew attention to a recent survey by researchers at the University of Stellenbosch on job satisfaction for teachers. Half of teachers surveyed wanted to leave the profession in the next ten years. The union has given the various departments 21 days to respond and warned of strike action should the government continue slashing social spending. This article first appeared on GroundUp. Read the original article here.
