Education activist groups have called on the government to provide the much needed money to end the education crisis ahead of the release of the 2023 budget.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana is scheduled to table the budget in Parliament on Wednesday which would, among other things, set out budget priorities to tackle the electricity crisis.
However, Equal Education (EE) believed that in addition to the electricity crisis, the country also faced an education crisis that threatened the future of learners.
The organisation warned that over the years, basic education funding had not kept up with inflation, growing learner enrolment and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and added that it foresaw basic education funding shrinking by 1.7% once inflation was taken into account.
"Every day, many learners across the country face serious difficulties and indignities at school, making it almost impossible to enjoy their constitutional right to a basic education.
We are increasingly seeing overcrowded schools, insufficient teachers and learning resources, and deteriorating infrastructure. We are calling this crisis the #EducationBlackout," said Equal Education (EE) researcher Jane Borman.
According to Borman, most of the country’s 23 276 public schools were still without libraries (17 832), lacked reliable electricity (3 343) and water (5 836) supplies, or relied on pit toilets (2 130).
"Policy statements and empty promises are simply not enough. The immediate priority in fixing the #EducationBlackout is to make sure that basic education gets adequate funding to provide schools with the resources they need to make learning possible," the organisation said.
The organisation said it would also closely monitor the targeted funding expected to come into effect in 2023 to address overcrowding at schools that Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced in 2022.
"EE will be closely monitoring if any money is ring-fenced, as well as the amount of money that will be prioritised to address this urgent issue," said Borman.
Another education organisation involved in early childhood learning also urged for more interventions to ensure that the Early Childhood Development (ECD) thrives.
Smart Start also noted that by 2022 only 18% of South Africa’s 10-year-olds’ could read for meaning, the same level as 2011.
Weekend Argus.