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Budget Vote of the Gauteng Department of Education at the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, outlining our priorities, commitments and strategic interventions aimed at strengthening public education across the province.
This statement serves as a preview of our Budget Vote and provides an early outline of some of the major areas of intervention. The full details, including programme-specific allocations, district-level implementation plans and comprehensive policy directions, will be outlined in the formal Budget Vote Speech.
This year’s Budget Vote is tabled under the theme “It Takes A Village To Raise A Child”, a theme that reflects our firm belief that education is not the responsibility of government alone, but a collective societal duty. We continue to hold the view that parents, communities, civil society, labour, business and all sectors of society must play an active role in shaping the future of our children.
As the Gauteng Department of Education, we remain responsible for one of the largest education systems in South Africa. Gauteng currently serves over 2.86 million learners across 3 320 schools, with over 2.82 million learners enrolled in ordinary schools and 46 421 learners in special schools. Of these, over 2.43 million learners are in public schools. These numbers reflect both the scale of our constitutional responsibility and the growing pressure on our education system.
We continue to face enormous challenges arising from rapid in-migration, urbanisation, overcrowding, infrastructure backlogs and growing learner demand, particularly in township, informal settlement and inner-city schools. These pressures require us to think differently about education delivery, infrastructure planning and long-term sustainability.
To respond to these challenges, we increase the Department’s budget from R68 billion in 2025/26 to R70.9 billion in 2026/27, representing an increase of R2.9 billion, or 4.3%. This increase allows us to strengthen key interventions while maintaining our focus on quality, access and equity.
Our budget priorities for this financial year are anchored on four strategic pillars.
Firstly, we continue to strengthen Early Childhood Development as the foundation of educational success. The Department allocates R994 million towards expanding access to Grade R, improving child readiness and ensuring that no learner enters formal schooling without the necessary foundational support. We recognise that the battle for educational success begins long before Grade 1.
Secondly, we intensify interventions aimed at improving learner outcomes across all schooling phases. To this end, we allocate R1.2 billion towards improving performance in critical areas such as Mathematics, Science, Technology, reading development and technical education. The Department continues to implement focused interventions to improve literacy, numeracy and subject performance, particularly in gateway subjects.
Thirdly, we continue with the modernisation of the education landscape to address overcrowding and infrastructure backlogs. The Department allocates R2.7 billion towards infrastructure investment and a broader R3.7 billion towards education modernisation initiatives, including school reorganisation, district support, principal development and the expansion of Schools of Specialisation. These interventions remain critical in changing the physical and structural conditions under which teaching and learning take place.
We are fully aware that infrastructure remains one of the biggest constraints facing public education in Gauteng. While these allocations will not resolve all historical backlogs immediately, they represent an important step towards easing overcrowding and improving learning conditions in some of our most affected communities.
Fourthly, we remain committed to building safer schools and stronger communities. The Department allocates R3.3 billion towards learner wellness, psychosocial support, anti-drug programmes, school health interventions, sports, arts and cultural development. We understand that learning cannot thrive where violence, bullying, trauma, gangsterism and substance abuse are left unattended. Safe schools remain non-negotiable.
The Department also continues to benefit from R3.9 billion in conditional grants, which will support infrastructure delivery, school nutrition, Early Childhood Development, Mathematics, Science and Technology, HIV and AIDS Life Skills education, and support for learners with profound intellectual disabilities. These grants strengthen our ability to provide targeted interventions for vulnerable learners.
As a labour-intensive sector, the Department continues to invest significantly in human capital. The Compensation of Employees budget now stands at R54.6 billion, constituting 77.1% of the total departmental budget. This reflects our commitment to retaining and supporting the educators, therapists, specialists and support staff who remain the backbone of our education system.
We also continue to invest in innovation and institutional capacity through our entities. The Department allocates R288 million to the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre and R383 million to the Matthew Goniwe School of Leadership and Governance to strengthen science education, innovation, leadership development and educator capacity-building.
This statement provides only a glimpse into the broader vision, priorities and interventions that we table in the Legislature today. The full Budget Vote Speech will provide a detailed breakdown of our strategy, implementation plans and long-term commitments to transform education in Gauteng.
Through this Budget Vote, we reaffirm our commitment to building a public education system that is inclusive, equitable, safe and responsive to the realities of our people. We remain convinced that education is the most powerful instrument through which we can confront poverty, inequality and unemployment, and through which we can build a more prosperous Gauteng.
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