Education Minister outlines plans for department's R35 billion budget
BASIC Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube believes her department is on track to transform the basic education sector into a “builder” of the country. The minister tabled her department’s budget in Parliament yesterday afternoon, revealing that the Department of Basic Education (DBE) received a total budget of over R35 billion — an increase of over 8% from last year.
She touched on the work needed to be done, including improving access to Grade R education, growing the capacity of teachers, and establishing the infrastructure required to ensure quality education. She also touched on the financial challenges faced by the provincial departments, stating that she has asked them to produce credible financial recovery plans.
Financial problems have plagued the KwaZulu-Natal education department in recent months. Addressing the members of Parliament, she stated that in every generation, a choice must be made: to be a builder or a breaker.
She said while they still face budgetary constraints and delays in critical investments as a result of years of under-funding, a lot of groundwork has been done to ensure the sector performs optimally with the resources available.
“Builders roll up their sleeves, confront hard truths, lead, and work every day to strengthen our schools, support our teachers, and uplift every learner. Breakers, on the other hand, sow division, undermine progress, and sacrifice the future of our children for cheap political point scoring.
“This budget is for the builders — those who understand that lasting change is not forged in the headlines, but in classrooms and communities where our children learn, dream, and grow.
“In the past year, we have laid strong foundations to restore the public’s confidence in basic education,” she said, adding that her department is committed to five key priorities:
- Strengthening foundational literacy and numeracy
- Advancing inclusive education
- Supporting teacher training and professional management
- Improving school infrastructure, safety, and learner well-being
- Expanding access to quality Early Childhood Development
Speaking on the challenges faced by provincial departments, she said years of bailing out failing state-owned enterprises (SOEs) instead of investing in education have caused real harm. This has led to:
- Unfilled posts due to compensation ceilings;
- Infrastructure backlogs;
- Interruptions to key learner support services;
- Non-payment of school allocations in some provinces.
“These are threats to the right to education. I have directed all provinces to submit credible financial recovery plans to be reviewed in July, addressing vacant posts, delivery breakdowns, ghost employees, and compliance with funding norms. Provinces must ring-fence spending on teaching and learning, infrastructure, and learner support. No space exists for vanity projects.”
“We are activating oversight tools available under the National Education Policy Act. Where necessary, we will escalate failures through intergovernmental mechanisms and this Parliament,” she said. Speaking on quality education, she said, “Among the changes being made for access to quality education, we are reviewing Post Provisioning Norms to improve teacher distribution and buffer provinces against budget pressures.
“In addition, we are updating the National Catalogue for Grades 1 to 3 to ensure learners receive high-quality, curriculum-aligned materials. We anticipate this new National Catalogue will be in place by 2026 for procurement for the 2027 school year.
She said, “Quality teaching is the greatest enabler of quality learning outcomes. We are therefore auditing all training and professional development offerings for teachers.”
Detailing how the budget will be allocated, the minister said the Early Childhood Development (ECD) Conditional Grant increases to over R1.7 billion, with over R230 million allocated to an ECD Nutrition Pilot and R162 million set aside for ECD infrastructure. “Our goal is clear: every child must enter Grade R ready to learn in all respects.
“Our strategy centres on foundational learning — ensuring all children can read and calculate by age ten. Over R4.6 billion is therefore allocated to Curriculum Policy Support and Monitoring — an increase of over 14%, enabling national oversight, teacher support, and curriculum delivery.”
R57 million over the medium term will support learners who are not being taught in their mother tongue through the rollout of mother-tongue-based bilingual education.
Speaking on the investment the department will make in teachers, she said, “No reform succeeds without empowered teachers. That’s why we’re investing more in their development. Over R1.8 billion therefore supports teacher training, mentorship, and leadership.”
On safety, infrastructure, and nutrition — all funded by the budget, she said the R15.3 billion Education Infrastructure Grant (EIG) will be used by provinces to eliminate pit toilets, expand classrooms, and repair schools. R10 billion will feed over 9 million learners daily.
Matakanya Matakanye of the National Association of School Governing Bodies welcomed the budget but said it fell short of expectations. He said it had been hoped that the budget would focus on dealing with rural and poor township schools.