2025/26 Education Budget – Stepping up for our learners

7 April 2025 – Speech by Minister David Maynier, Minister of Education, Western Cape

1. The 2025/26 Education Budget

This year, we will spend R33.259 billion on Education, which is a 5.9% increase compared to last year’s budget, and the largest departmental budget in the Western Cape.

We are stepping up to tackle the most pressing challenges faced in education by:

• Improving learning outcomes;
• Expanding access to education;
• Creating secure school environments; 
• Supporting vulnerable learners; and
• Ensuring departmental sustainability.

2. Improving learning outcomes

The greatest challenge we must step up to tackle is poor learning outcomes.

While our province performs better than others in international assessments of reading, Mathematics and Science, we still fall far short of international benchmarks. 

We need to act decisively to improve our children’s scores, so that they leave schools with the skills and capabilities to take on further training, move into jobs, or create new jobs through their own businesses.

There can be no significant economic growth without a capable, qualified workforce, which begins with delivering quality basic education. 

This year, we will spend R322.3 million on our #BackOnTrack programme to improve learning outcomes in the Western Cape.

This programme has clearly demonstrated success in improving learning outcomes.

A recent evaluation report found subject-specific recovery of an equivalent of up to 205 school days’ worth of learning for children who had attended #BackOnTrack classes. 

What this means is that a year of learning has been caught up through the #BackOnTrack programme.

In addition, they found subject-specific gains of up to 160 days school days for learners whose teachers had attended extra training as part of the programme.

The report went on to say:

“The massive effect sizes encountered in this investigation were a surprise as some were much larger than the effect sizes typically encountered in education interventions.”

Moreover, our 2024 annual systemic test results show that our children’s scores are getting back on track after experiencing severe learning losses during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The pass rates for both Grade 9 Mathematics and Grade 3 Language are now higher than they were in 2019, with the remaining grades and subjects catching up quickly. 

So, I’d like to thank every teacher, tutor, learner, parent and official that has participated in and supported the #BackOnTrack programme. 

Their investment of additional time and energy into improving learning outcomes is what has made this programme such a success. 

But there is still so much work to be done, and this year, 15 450 Grade 4 and 7 learners from 223 primary schools will attend weekend #BackOnTrack classes. These classes will focus on Mathematics and Languages, taught by our expert tutors throughout the year. 

In addition to these grades, 8 000 Grade 12 learners will receive academic support as they prepare for their matric exams this year. This will include weekend classes and revision camps during the Autumn, Winter and Spring school holidays. 

Our teachers will also receive professional development support through the #BackOnTrack programme this year. 

In-person training, in the form of weekly sessions or holiday training, will be provided to 2 483 Grade 1, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 teachers, with a primary focus on Mathematics and Languages. 

This year, we will spend R113.5 million funding school assistants through the Basic Education Employment Initiative (BEEI). 

This will provide valuable job opportunities for 4 370 young people between the ages of 18 and 34 for six months, to gain experience and skills that will help kickstart their career. 

Most of these assistants will be helping teachers in the classroom as Reading Champions, curriculum assistants, eLearning support and care and support assistants for special needs schools. 

General assistants will also provide schools with support for sport, arts and culture activities, as well as maintenance of school properties. 

3. Expanding access to education

The second challenge we must step up to tackle is the extreme demand for school placement.

We are the fastest growing province in the country, and every year the number of learners in our schools is growing rapidly.

Our on-time admissions window for Grade R, 1 and 8 in the 2026 school year is currently open, and we have already received applications for over 116 000 learners, and I encourage parents to ensure that they apply before the admissions window closes on 15 April 2025. 

While our admissions website is zero-rated and does not require data, we understand that there are parents who are not able to complete their applications online, and need in-person assistance. 

Our officials are ready to assist parents at our district offices and pop-up admissions sites at malls, schools and libraries, and I really do encourage parents to take up this opportunity this weekend. And a special thank you to all the officials who are giving up their weekends to provide this service to our parents. 

It is clear that the demand for school places in the Western Cape will continue to grow, and in order to provide sufficient spaces, we will need to build new schools and classrooms faster than before. 

This year, we will spend R2.862 billion on school infrastructure to expand access to education and to upgrade existing school buildings and facilities in the Western Cape.

So far, our Rapid School Build programme has completed 15 new schools, in communities where demand for school places is highest, including Delft, Atlantis, Lwandle, Wallacedene, Crossroads, Kwanokuthula, and Darling.

Our Rapid School Build programme has received a massive vote of confidence from the National Treasury, and we were the first department in our province to be allocated additional funding through the Budget Facility for Infrastructure. 

The R2.549 billion allocated to us through the BFI is being put to good use building new schools to accommodate the high demand for admissions in our schools. 

Over the next three years, we aim to complete 29 new and replacement schools in the Western Cape. We are currently finalising the location of these schools, and four are already under construction in Lwandle, Wallacedene, Brackenfell and Malmesbury.

And our Edu Invest partnership with Wesgro is supporting the private sector to open new schools in the Western Cape. 

We are also expanding access to education for the most vulnerable learners in the Western Cape. 

This year, we will spend an additional R75 million on expanding support to learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Western Cape.

As research progressively sheds more light on the education needs of children with ASD, we will continue to prioritise expanding access to education for these learners and creating inclusive learning environments.

We have included the provision of additional classrooms for learners with Special Education Needs in our infrastructure programme, as the need for additional places in our special schools remains high. 

This year we are completing 25 additional classrooms at special schools, to create more places for our most vulnerable learners. 

And we will spend an additional R73.9 million this year supporting Learners with Profound Intellectual Disabilities (LPID) in the Western Cape.

4. Creating secure school environments

The third challenge we must step up to tackle is a lack of safe and environmentally secure school environments. 

This year, we will spend R75 million on our Safe Schools Programme to create a safer learning environment for learners in the Western Cape.

This programme supports the provision of 82 law enforcement School Resource Officers in high-risk schools, the subsidisation of holiday security at schools in areas where crime is high, school intervention and behavioural programmes, and our Safe Schools Call Centre. 

Last week, students across the country participated in protests following the news of a deeply concerning assault at a school in the Eastern Cape. 

While this incident has occurred in another province, I urge anyone who becomes aware of an incident of abuse or assault in a Western Cape school to report this immediately to SAPS and to our Safe Schools Call Centre on 0800 45 46 47 toll free for assistance.

A secure school environment also includes the reliable access to electricity.

This year, we will spend R70 million securing the energy supply to our schools in the Western Cape.

In the past few months we have been reminded that load-shedding is not a thing of the past, and remains a clear threat to the provision of education in our schools. 

We have allocated R40 million to provide solar PV systems at 40 schools this year, which creates a more sustainable supply of electricity for the school, while reducing the school’s electricity bill. 

And we have allocated R30 million to our successful lighting replacement project for 70 schools this year, which replaces high-energy usage lighting with efficient LED lighting in large no-fee schools. 

This helps bring down energy costs for our schools, but more importantly, reduces our demand on the energy grid so that we can play our part to create a more secure energy future in the Western Cape. 

5. Supporting vulnerable learners

The fourth challenge we must step up to tackle is inequality in education.

So many of the children in the Western Cape are:

• Living in poor communities,
• Do not receive daily meals,
• Do not have access to reliable transport, and
• Have special education needs that require additional support. 

That is why the Western Cape Government dedicates additional funding to step up for the most vulnerable learners in our province. 

This year, we will spend R622 million providing school meals to over 537 000 learners in our schools in the Western Cape.

While the National School Nutrition Programme receives a national conditional grant, this grant does not cover the costs of food inflation, so we use funding from our own provincial share to top up the grant by R71 million. Without our additional investment, our children would not be receiving a sufficient standard of meals.

This year, we will spend R674 million transporting learners to and from school in the Western Cape.

Every school day, nearly 69 000 learners benefit from our Learner Transport Scheme, which is overwhelmingly allocated to rural areas where the distances from farms to schools is vast and there is no form of public or commercial transport available. 

This year, we will spend R89.3 million on fee exemptions for learners whose parents are not able to pay school fees in the Western Cape.

Many parents have faced a loss of income in this tough economic climate, and we offer them the opportunity to have their children’s school fees paid in part or full. I encourage all parents who are in this situation to take up this opportunity by applying through their school. 

This year, we will spend R296.9 million on additional no-fee schools in the Western Cape.

These are Quintile 4 and 5 schools that would ordinarily be fee-charging schools, but serve learners from poor communities. So we have provided additional funding for these learners to operate on a no-fee basis. 

Despite the extreme budget challenges facing our department, we will continue prioritising this funding to the learners who need it most, and have not made any cuts to critical learner support like learner transport, school meals, and norms and standards transfers to our schools.

6. Ensuring departmental sustainability

Finally, we need to step up to deal with the risks facing our department in the year ahead.

We said that we would fight for our teachers, and that is what we have done. We are adding up to 477 growth posts to accommodate the new learners that have joined our schools this year. 

And around 2 100 posts open up each year due to resignations and relocations, so there are more opportunities opening up for teachers to apply for. 

This year, we will spend R23.737 billion on the Compensation of Employees in the Western Cape.

While we have received an additional allocation to cover the cost of employment this year, we still face significant risk in this regard. We will need to manage this risk across the year as placement of excess teachers is underway, along with the allocation of posts for growth. 

We will also continue to implement the universalisation of Grade R, which we believe is an essential start to a child’s school career and a vital part of the Foundation Phase. 

This year, we will spend R845.9 million to provide access to Grade R in the Western Cape.

We have been working progressively to expand Grade R provision in our schools. We currently have over 72 000 Grade R learners in our schools, and have built 124 Grade R classrooms in the past 5 years. And we will continue to open new Grade R classrooms at schools and Early Childhood Development (ECD) sites to provide more places in Grade R in the Western Cape. 

Unfortunately, the introduction of compulsory Grade R is an entirely unfunded mandate from the national government. We have not received any additional funding to expand the number of places in our schools for Grade R learners, or to fund additional teachers to cater to growing numbers.

Despite our massive investment into school infrastructure, our school buildings remain at risk.

This year, we will spend R1.328 billion on maintaining and upgrading existing school infrastructure in the Western Cape.

We have the oldest portfolio of school infrastructure in the country, and because of the extreme pressure for new schools and classrooms, the budget for maintenance and replacement of schools is limited. 

Moving funding away from maintenance and replacement schools to fund other priorities puts our schools, and our children, at significant risk.

In addition, the Western Cape has experienced an increase in extreme weather events which have caused severe damage to our schools which require emergency replacement. 

Underlying all of these risks is perhaps the greatest risk we face, which is continuing budget uncertainty. We are currently in a holding pattern as we await the finalisation of the national budget. Once the national budget is finalised, any further funding will be allocated through an adjustments budget, and we will constantly monitor this situation.

7. Conclusion

What I truly admire about the Western Cape Education Department is that despite the risks, despite the extreme pressure, despite the daily challenges that arise, our staff continue to step up. 

The past year has been an extremely difficult one for our sector.

It has been difficult for our principals, who have had to implement a reduction in the Basket of Educator Posts that has presented many challenges for our schools.

Our teachers are under more pressure than ever, with bigger classes, fewer free periods, and more marking.

And our officials have working extra hours, picking up additional tasks, and doing their best to plan for the year despite the uncertainty we face. 

And yet, our staff members continue to prioritise the best interests of our learners. They are the everyday heroes in our sector, and their dedication and care for our children really shows. 

I thank our Head of Department, Brent Walters, and the Western Cape Education Department management team, our school principals, teachers and public service staff, and my team in the Ministry of Education, for the work that they have done this year.

We have a shared vision for the future of our children and for our province, and we will continue to do everything we can to deliver quality education for every learner, in every classroom, in every school in the Western Cape.

Our department is under enormous pressure, and it is understandable that we might feel demoralised at times. 

But we know from experience that there is hope, and that we can achieve excellent learning outcomes in the toughest of circumstances. 

I think of an example a school that is demonstrating excellence in the face of extreme adversity. 

They had 121 candidates for the 2024 matric exams.

Every learner writes Maths.

Every learner writes Physical Science. 

They achieved overall matric pass rate of 98.3%, and a bachelors pass rate of 74.4%.

They achieved a Maths pass rate of 98.3% and a Physical Science pass rate of 80.2%.

They achieved 136 distinctions, including 19 distinctions for Maths. 

And that school is COSAT, a no-fee school in the middle of Khayelitsha.

It can be done, and we will do everything that we can to make this a reality for every learner in the Western Cape.