{"id":98054,"date":"2025-05-29T19:43:31","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T17:43:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=98054"},"modified":"2025-05-29T19:43:31","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T17:43:31","slug":"r2-5-billion-shortfall-leaves-millions-of-learners-in-limping-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/r2-5-billion-shortfall-leaves-millions-of-learners-in-limping-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"R2.5 Billion Shortfall Leaves Millions of Learners in Limping Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za<\/a>
\n3-minute read
\n29 May 2025 | 18:45 CAT<\/p>\n

\"\"

R4.40 a day isn’t enough to run a school, let alone realise the right to education. (Image-Gallo Images\/Darren Stewart)<\/p><\/div>\n

More than 4.25 million pupils in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape are being denied their constitutional right to education\u2014short-changed by R2.5 billion in school funding.<\/p>\n

According to national norms and standards, the poorest learners should receive at least R1,754 per child. Yet in provinces like the Northern Cape, some schools are receiving as little as R835\u2014less than half the mandated amount.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s a no-fee school, that\u2019s the only money they receive,\u201d explained Jaco Deacon, CEO of the Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools. \u201cIt boils down to just R4.40 per learner per school day. What can you buy with R4.40?\u201d<\/p>\n

Only three provinces\u2014Western Cape, Limpopo and Free State\u2014met the first statutory payment deadline of 15 May. The rest missed the deadline entirely, leaving schools cash-strapped.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re talking about schools that cannot buy paper, ink, or cleaning materials. They can\u2019t keep the lights on or the water running. And we are entering exam season,\u201d warned Deacon.<\/p>\n

The Western Cape and Gauteng stand out for allocating more than the minimum to their better-resourced schools (quintiles four and five), reflecting a stronger financial commitment to education. \u201cIn provinces like Free State, 94% of the education budget is consumed by salaries. That\u2019s not sustainable,\u201d Deacon stressed.<\/p>\n

He further explained that despite education receiving nearly 20% of the national budget, funds earmarked for schools are not being delivered. \u201cTreasury pays provinces on April 1st, ring-fencing the funds. So why are payments late or incomplete?\u201d<\/p>\n

The effects are devastating. In the Northern Cape, hostel subsidies have not been paid, leaving many rural learners unable to return to school. School nutrition programs are also in crisis, with just 40 cents allocated per learner for breakfast. \u201cA hungry child cannot study,\u201d said Deacon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis funding shortfall sends a painful message: that learners in poorer provinces are less valued,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Deacon criticised oversight failures at both provincial and national levels. \u201cOur politicians are sleeping on duty. There are no consequences for non-compliance\u2014even though it\u2019s a breach of statutory law.\u201d<\/p>\n

As classrooms across struggling provinces brace for winter without electricity, heat or basic supplies, South Africa faces a hard truth: promises of equitable education are, for many, just that\u2014promises.<\/p>\n

Listen<\/strong> to the full inetreview on The Daily Round-Up<\/a> with Annisa Essack and Jaco Dean.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 3-minute read 29 May 2025 | 18:45 CAT More than 4.25 million pupils in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape are being denied their constitutional right to education\u2014short-changed by R2.5 billion in school funding. According to national norms and standards, the poorest learners should receive at least R1,754 per child. Yet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":98055,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4995],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-south-africa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ed_348760.jpeg?fit=1024%2C679&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-pvw","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-14 20:15:37","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}