Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi delivered his budget speech at the provincial legislature on Thursday last week.
The 2016/17 budget allocation totalling R39 billion was prepared under a very tough economic environment, the MEC said.
This financial year, the Department of Education’s allocation was increased by R3 billion from the R36 billion allocated in the 2015/16 financial year.
An additional R2,2 billion was received as conditional grants according to Lesufi.
“We run a huge and successful basic education system that caters for 2,2 million pupils. A total of 71% of the pupils that started Grade 1 in 2005 in our public schools reached matric in 2016.
This represents the highest throughput in the country,” said Lesufi.
Amongst other things this year’s budget will be utilised in extending the ICT programme to Grade 11.
The programme will be implemented on other Grades in the coming financial years until it reaches all Grades.
“It is anticipated that all schools would be reached by the end of the 2018/19 financial year. From July 2016, the Department intends to accelerate delivery by promoting and supporting self-initiated ICT programmes to encourage pupils from Quintile 4 and 5 schools, where parents can afford to support pupils, to bring their own devices to schools,” said Lesufi.
In line with premier David Makhura’s Transformation, Modernisation and Reindustrialisation (TMR) programme, Lesufi has recommitted his department to transforming township schools to centres of skills development.
This will be done through the introduction of schools of specialisation. The Curtis Nkondo School of Specialisation is the first of its kind to be launched early this month in Naledi.
Lesufi said, the “Schools of specialisation will ssist in addressing critical skills shortages in Gauteng and in South Africa at large.
“They will also serve as laboratories to deepen teaching and learning methods that can be extended to nearby schools, instead of being islands of excellence with limited impact on the broader education community.”
A further six schools of specialisation are set to be open this year by the department.
The focus of this year’s budget speech was transforming and improving the education system to being a vehicle for development.
Lesufi hopes the province will stay on top of the list of the top three performing provinces in the country.
