By Edwin Naidu
South Africa’s pro-poor policies have had a positive effect on post-apartheid society, particularly in the realm of education. These policies have opened doors and provided opportunities that were previously inaccessible. However, the one thing missing is the impact, particularly on government spending on education.
As a nation led by a businessman, the need for efficiency in government spending is paramount to successful outcomes. However, in cases like Cyril Ramaphosa’s, where it is handed on a silver platter as a post-apartheid empowerment beneficiary, the true value for money is often lost.
Many of his ilk, like Tokyo Sexwale, Saki Macozoma and others, have benefitted from the post-apartheid redress push, but at what cost to the efficiency of our education system?
As business leaders who were propped up because of their Robben Island or political and trade union connections, one must ask whether the return on investment was paramount in their outlook when running the corporations they did.
Why is this not important when running the affairs of a country mired in debt?
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana pays lip service to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of spending. But when traffic authorities still hide in the bush on highways to install cameras to trap people speeding while unemployed civilians control robots, it speaks volumes about a government that cares for its people.
In his Budget speech, the minister mentioned undertaking an audit of ghost workers, starting with national and provincial departments. This is doomed to fail. Whatever happened to setting targets for government ministers and measuring performance—or non-performance? It did not seem to amount to much, but it was hot air.
The review aims to reduce duplication and improve operational efficiencies across over 100 active labour market programmes in over 20 public institutions.
Thirty years after democracy, the bloated bureaucracy created by itself decides to embark on a review without considering whether the fat at the top should first be cut.
Instead of dispensing with experience in its ranks, the Cabinet has earmarked R11 billion for a retirement initiative aimed at attracting younger people to public service.
Godongwana should have known that salaries make up 76 percent of provincial education spending in the annual government budget. This means that only R24 out of every R100 of the budget is left for funding school infrastructure, meals for learners from poor backgrounds, and stationery and textbooks, amongst other things.
Acknowledging that learner-teacher ratios remain higher than preferred, more teachers are needed in classrooms. Godongwana has earmarked R19.1 billion over the medium term to keep approximately 11,000 teachers in classrooms.
He said early childhood development is the foundation for building the next generation of citizens who contribute economically and socially to this great nation. Despite this, the subsidy for ECD has not increased from the 2019 level of R17 per day per child.
To remedy this, an additional R10 billion over the medium term is allocated to increase the subsidy to R24 per day per child. The extra funding will also support increased access to ECD for approximately 700,000 more children up to four. What does it seek to achieve? And what should happen to those who don’t ensure it succeeds?
The government must be applauded for expanding access to historically disadvantaged population groups, thus contributing to redress for past injustices. For instance, 10% of Black South Africans born in the 1950s and 1960s completed 12 years of education. By contrast, those born in the 1980s who completed their schooling in the late 1990s saw this figure rise to approximately 30%.
According to 2021 household survey data, nearly 60% now attain this milestone. Some improvements in the system have been attributable to highly intentional pro-poor education policies:About 10 million learners receive daily meals at school and do not pay school fees (~80%).
These policies help alleviate the financial burden on vulnerable households and create meaningful opportunities to attend and progress through school. Policies to screen and identify children for special educational needs have also helped ensure that more than 90% of 7 to 15-year-old children with disabilities now attend school.
But it is time for the minister to consider whether the investment in education equates to credible learning for school-going children and opportunities for varsity graduates?
Although school dropout rates remain a concern, completion rates have steadily improved. It is time to assess whether education is serving South Africa or whether the government is merely throwing money down an open drain in the name of redress?
We need better investment strategies that assess the return on investment in our greatest asset—its people.
Edwin Naidu is the Editor of Inside Education.
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