Cape Town - Government has allocated more than R1 trillion towards education over the next three years, with basic education taking the bulk of the spending.
According to the National Budget delivered by Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba in Parliament on Wednesday, expenditure for basic education will go towards making schools safer.
The bulk or 70% of the budget allocation to education will go towards basic education, according to the budget review.
For the fiscal year 2018/19, basic education has been allocated more than R231bn.
The Education Infrastructure Grant will be allocated R31.7bn over the medium term to build new schools, upgrade and maintain existing infrastructure and provide school furniture, the minister said.
Over the medium term R3.8bn will be allocated to the School Infrastructure Backlogs Grant. This should be used to replace 82 inappropriate and unsafe schools and will provide water to 325 schools and sanitation to 286 schools.
Meals will be provided to 19 800 schools for 9 million learners each school day through the National Nutrition Programme Grant, which has been allocated R21.7bn over the medium term.
Funza Lushaka bursaries are to be provided through NSFAS to 39 000 students. This amounts to R3.7bn and will be specifically distributed to teachers in priority subjects such as mathematics, science and technology.
A total of R15.3bn will be allocated to provide printed and digital content to teachers and learners. This includes the provision of 183 million workbooks and textbooks, teacher support, increased access to information and communication technology.
- Visit our Budget 2018 Special for all the news, views and analysis.
