By Johnathan Paoli
Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube has called upon all provincial education authorities to develop and submit comprehensive financial and service delivery recovery plans as the country’s public education system faces one of its most severe financial crises in decades.
“The education sector is under extraordinary pressure. Without urgent intervention and robust financial planning, several provincial education departments risk becoming insolvent before the end of the current financial year,” Gwarube said.
The directive sent to education MECs and HODs as part of Gwarube’s ongoing efforts to stabilise the sector in the wake of a decade-long trend of underfunding and fiscal mismanagement.
The minister announced on Tuesday that these recovery plans must be submitted to the national department before the next Council of Education Ministers (CEM) meeting on 21 July.
Gwarube commissioned a full-scale financial review across all nine provinces shortly after assuming her post last year.
The review revealed a sector under enormous pressure, plagued by structural underinvestment, repeated reallocation of education budgets to prop up struggling state-owned enterprises and widespread inefficiencies in provincial financial administration.
In response to the review’s findings, she has instructed provincial education departments to collaborate closely with their respective provincial Treasuries to craft targeted financial recovery plans.
These plans must safeguard the constitutional right of learners to quality education while simultaneously ensuring fiscal discipline and sustainability.
The minister has instructed all MECs and HODs to account in detail for their performance in critical service delivery areas.
These include timely disbursement of statutory school payments, such as school allocations; as well the restoration or continuity of basic services in schools, including electricity, water, security, learner transport, and the National School Nutrition Programme.
In May, six provinces missed their deadline to pay schools.
In addition, the provincial authorities must account for the appointment of teachers and managers to all funded school vacancies.
They must also report on the eradication of ghost employees from provincial payroll systems, which has persistently drained education budgets and undermined credibility.
The national department has committed to using these recovery plans to stabilise education delivery. It will provide technical support and strengthen oversight mechanisms.
The minister stressed that while all provinces were under strain, the situation in some, particularly KwaZulu-Natal, had reached a critical stage.
Last month, the SA Democratic Teaches’ Union decided to embark on a work-to-rule campaign in the province over the state of the education system.
Gwarube recently held high-level meetings with provincial education MEC Sipho Nhlamuka, finance MEC Francois Rodgers and officials from the Office of the Premier to address the province’s escalating financial crisis.
In a bid to explore immediate interventions, the minister has tasked the education director-general Hubert Mathanzima Mweli with leading engagements involving the National Treasury, the KZN education department and other affected provinces.
These engagements aim to find urgent solutions to ensure that learners continue to receive essential services and education is not disrupted.
Gwarube stressed that the time for half-measures was over.
“There is no room for complacency. The choices ahead are difficult and, at times, painful—but they are necessary to preserve the integrity and sustainability of our public education system,” she said.
The minister reaffirmed her commitment to working with all stakeholders, both national and provincial, to protect learners from the consequences of the financial crisis.
The department has made it clear that it will not hesitate to take corrective measures where provinces fail to act decisively.
INSIDE EDUCATION
