Note to Editors: Please find attached English soundbite by Sergio Isa Dos Santos MPL.
The Gauteng Department of Education’s (GDE) decision to cut budgets for school transport and feeding schemes to save approximately 3,400 teacher jobs amid an R4.5 billion budget reduction will severely affect the delivery of support services and quality education.
The GDE’s plan to reduce funding for school transport will leave many learners, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, without access to education. Many learners travel long distances to school where public transport is often unreliable. Cutting this critical service will prevent students from attending school regularly, resulting in greater absenteeism, lower academic performance, and higher learner dropout rates.
The decision to reduce funding for school feeding schemes is particularly concerning. For many learners, the meals provided at school are their only source of nutrition for the day. The Democratic Alliance (DA) has previously raised alarms about the ongoing concerns in the school nutrition programme, where many learners have faced irregular deliveries and poor-quality food because of a botched feeding scheme tender. Cutting these schemes will exacerbate food insecurity and malnutrition among learners coming from disadvantaged homes.
The DA urges the Treasury to intervene and stop these fatal budget cuts. Furthermore, we recommend that the state freeze the pay of public employees, notably managers and administrators. This measure would help to protect the salaries of essential teaching workers.
The GDE must prioritise the needs of learners and ensure that budget cuts do not affect the most vulnerable learners in our education system. Cutting essential services like school transport and feeding schemes is a short-term solution that will have long-lasting negative consequences for the education of our learners.
The DA will continue to advocate for sensible spending and ensure that the Gauteng provincial government balances keeping our teachers in jobs and providing vital services like transport and nutrition to learners.
The Gauteng education system must prioritise the well-being of both educators and learners.