1. Equal Education Submission on the 2019 Division of Revenue Bill
Presented to the Standing Committee on Appropriations and the Select Committee on Appropriations
08 March 2018

2. The Basic Education Budget
The basic education sector budget makes up 14,4% of the total 2019/20 consolidated budget.
The sector allocations have remained relatively steady, marginally keeping up with inflation.
However allocations to the Department of Basic Education (DBE) have not kept up with inflations and have been decreasing in real terms for the past 4 years.

3. DBE Real & Nominal allocations (2015/16 to 2019/20
(‘000)
2015/16
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
2019/20
Nominal appropriation (R in millions)
R21 286
R22 413
R22 993
R23 699
R24 504
Annual nominal change (%)
8.1%
5.3%
2.6%
3.1%
3.4%
Real appropriation (R in millions)
R26 142
R25 896
R25 374
R24 900
Annual real change (%)
2.8%
-0.9%
-2.0%
-1.9%
-1.7%
Source: 2018 and 2019 Estimates of National Expenditure

4. DBE Real Allocations and Annual % Change

5. School Infrastructure Delivery
School infrastructure continues to be a challenge for the basic education sector and for thousands of learners and teachers.
EE began campaigning for the Norms and Standards in 2011 and secured a victory when Minister Motshekga promulgated them in
The National Education Infrastructure Management System (NEIMS) report shows that there has been a positive correlation between the promulgation of the Norms and Standards and improvement in school infrastructure delivery.

6. NEIMS School Infrastructure Provision (2011 – 2018)
2013
2016
2018
No Water
2401
1772
171
No Electricity
3544
2925
569
269
No Sanitation
913
822 68 37
Pit Latrines
11 450
10 915
9 203
8702
Source: NEIMS Report

7. School Infrastructure Grants
While improvement in the delivery of school infrastructure has been notes, this has unfortunately not been at the pace it should be.
The DBE has missed its 2016 Norms and Standards deadline meaning learners continue to attend schools in the most deplorable conditions.
Budget allocations towards the provision of school infrastructure have also been an area that has compromised the implementation of the Norms and Standards.

8. EIG Real and Nominal Allocations (2015/16 to 2019/20)
‘000
Education Infrastructure Grant
2015/16
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
2019/20
Appropriation (nominal)
(R in millions)
9 354
9 933  
10 093
10 514
Annual % change (nominal)
27.7%
6.2%
1.1%
0.5%
4.2%
Appropriation (real)
(R in million)
11 488
11 477
11 085
10 618
Annual % change (real)
21.4%
-0.1%
-3.4%
-4.2%
-1.0%
Source: Estimates of National Expenditure

9. SIGB Real and Nominal Allocations (2015/16 to 2019/20)
School Infrastructure Backlogs Grant
2015/16
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
2019/20
Appropriation (nominal)
(R in millions)
2 024
1 979
2 179
2 272
2 027
Annual % change (nominal)
-19.5%
-2.2%
10.1%
4.3%
-10.8%
Appropriation (real ) (R in millions)
2 485
2 286
2 404
2 390
Annual % change (real)
-23.4%
-8.0%
5.2%
-0.6%
-15.2%
Source: Estimates of National Expenditure

10. ASIDI Targets versus Performance
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
Target
Performance
Performance (for the 1st 6 months)
Schools Built
136 16
115 12 50 9
Sanitation
265
257 29
285 64
Water
459 10
344 43
325
Electricity
620
134 17
   - -
Source: 2018 Adjusted Estimates of National Expenditure (Vote 14)  

11. ASIDI Allocations and Expenditure (2014/15 – 2018/19)

12. Early Learning
President Ramaphosa communicated a strong commitment to prioritising early years in his 2019 SONA.
He announced the introduction of two years compulsory Early Childhood Development (ECD),
A shift of the ECD services from the Department of Social Development to the Department of Basic Education,
And expanding aspects of the Early Grade Reading Study.
However the President’s bold commitments were not reflected in Minister Mboweni’s Budget Speech.

13. Early Childhood Development
EE has previously stated that poor National Senior Certificate outcomes are related to an under-investment in the early years and foundation phase schooling.
EE was hopeful when the President not only spoke to the importance of investing in early learning so that more children could access ECD facilities and services however his promises rang hollow.
We know that the ECD grant introduced in 2017 to increase access for more children to ECD services and improve conditions at ECD facilities has previously under-performed.
Given this, there is no clarity on how the compulsory two years of ECD will be funded when this same grant is projected to be stagnant over the next three years.

14. Early Grade Reading Study
EE has repeatedly called for the expansion for the EGRS.
The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) last report showed that nearly 80% of Grade 4 learners cannot read for meaning.
However the 2019 Budget makes no mention of the EGRS and implementation of other reading assessments has been slower than planned.

15. Revision of the Provincial Equitable Share Formula
EE has previously presented to SCoA regarding the revision of the provincial equitable share formula in relation to the education component.
We raised concerns of formula’s failure to cater for the higher costs of providing quality education in rural provinces due to their geographical location and historic underfunding.
We welcomed National Treasury’s commitment to reviewing the formula, but still await time frames of the review process to be made public.

16. Revision of the Provincial Equitable Share Formula
We note that the 2019 Division of Revenue speaks to the continued work of the review process, noting the inclusion on a new data- collection methodology for the education component.
While the review process takes place, there has been no mention of the structure of the process – including plans and timelines.
The information provided in the Explanatory Memorandums has been extremely vague, making it impossible to ascertain when the public can expect to interact with the process to provide comment.

17. A Conditional Grant for Learner Transport
Since 2014, Equalisers in Nquthu KZN have raised the lack of transport as a serious barrier to education
Traverse dangerous terrain and threatening situations.
As a result, EE has consistently advocated for adequate funding for learner transport policy, including presenting to SCoA requesting conditional grant be introduced.
Current provision of learner transport is funded through the provincial equitable share allocations, however PEDs have cited inadequate funding as one of the main reasons for not providing qualifying learners with transport.

18. A Conditional Grant for Learner Transport
In 2018, the Human Sciences Research Council presented to SCoA on the state of learner transport provision and highlighted KZN as province with the highest demand of learners in need of transport.
For nearly 3 years National Treasury and DPME have been looking into developing a conditional grant yet no information is available on progress.
The DPME released a report on a study into the provision of learner transport which the 2018 DoRB states “had several data gaps”.
EE wrote to Department of Transport and DPME last year raising our concerns regarding on the draft report.

19. A Conditional Grant for Learner Transport
Concerns detailed in the letter included:
Methodology
The small sample size in each province does not justify the findings of the overall success of the programme.
Depth and accuracy of analysis
There is no substantiating evidence for why the report declares the analysis of the National Learner Transport Policy to be “relatively well-developed”.
Fails to note that the KZN Learner Transport Policy is currently being reviewed.
The report concludes that data provided by provinces is correct and neglects to highlight that the KZN numbers cited in the report are incorrect. In a responding affidavit to EE, the KZN DoE revised its estimates from to learners, a 312% difference which calls into question the accuracy of other figures.
These incorrect figures have also been used to inform the costing done in the report resulting in a misleading conclusion that the Learner Transport Programme has been “largely successful” meanwhile it has only provided 81% of the total number of learners in need of transport.

20. Recommendations We thus urge the Committees to:
Increase education sectoral budget and the DBE Budget to keep up with inflation
Reverse the R7 billion cuts to school infrastructure grants over the MTEF
Migrate ECD services to DSD and increase the allocation to the ECD conditional grant
Ensure NT funds the expansion of EGRS services
Ensure NT finalises the investigation into the feasibility of a scholar transport grant
Ensure that the equitable share formula review process time-frames are made publicly available

21. END – Thank you