David Maynier
We have just announced our Western Cape Education budget for the 2026/27 financial year, which at R35.1 billion is the largest budget in the provincial government and will allow us to build more schools, hire more teachers, and improve learning outcomes.
We are in the process of realigning our system to focus on quality education, because quality education means more economic growth, more jobs, and a better future for our children.
Delivering quality education means setting higher standards, and pushing harder to meet them. It also means investing in early learning and in improving learning outcomes across all grades.
This year, we will spend R102.9million on strengthening early learning, so that our learners will have a strong foundation for their education, which gives them a better chance of succeeding in higher grades and in their post-school careers.
We have already implemented an extensive reading programme over the past few years, and are now adding a structured numeracy intervention to ensure that learner can calculate effectively. We piloted the intervention last year, and this year we are beginning the rollout that will eventually cover all Foundation Phase learners and teachers.
We have introduced baseline assessments of literacy and numeracy skills for all Foundation Phase learners at the beginning of the school year, to help teachers identify gaps in learning early, and to tailor our interventions to support learners.
We have implemented reading fluency benchmarks in the Foundation Phase, which serve as clear, measurable goals that guide teaching, learning, and assessment throughout the school year.
And we have just launched our Western Cape Reading and Literacy Strategy, with a clear and ambitious goal: every learner must be able to read for meaning by the age of 10.
At the same time, we will spend R191.1m on improving learning outcomes in Grades 4 through 12, so that learners are supported throughout their school careers.
Our successful #BackOnTrack programme will continue to offer support across grades in the coming year, with 34 200 learners in Grades 4, 7, 10, 11 and 12 receiving extra classes.
We will offer additional training to 1 530 teachers in Grades 4, 8, 9, 10 and 11, as well as an open “Just in Time” online training programme for 3 100 teachers in Grades 11 and 12.
We are refining our programme to ensure that it aligns with our department’s key priorities, like improving participation and performance in Mathematics in Grades 10 to 12.
We need to have more learners taking Maths, more learners passing Maths, and more learners passing Maths well, with a score of 60% or more. So our interventions will include extra classes for 4 000 learners in Grade 10, and another 4 000 in Grade 11, so that we retain these learners in Mathematics throughout the phase.
We will invest in revitalising our technical schools, including upgrading workshops, modernising equipment, and supporting teachers in technical subjects, so that these schools deliver learners with the skills to take up and create jobs in these fields.
But to deliver quality education and learning outcomes, we must urgently improve capacity in our system, as the number of learners in our province continues to grow.
This year, we will spend R2.7bn on school infrastructure, and expand access to qualityeducation through our Rapid School Build programme. We aim to deliver 280 classrooms innew and existing schools across the province, and to have 10 new schools ready to open for thestart of the 2027 school year.
The private and donor sector has an important role to play in increasing this capacity, and we will spend R5m supporting the Edu Invest initiative at Wesgro.
The return on investment in Edu Invest is impressive: for the 2025/26 financial year, the teamfacilitated R320m in new independent school projects, mainly in low-fee and no-fee schools.
These schools make high-quality education accessible to learners in low-income communities, and the difference they are making in the lives of our children is astounding.
One of these education providers, Apex Education Group, recently shared a groundbreaking commitment to build 10 schools in 10 years, serving 10 000 learners from low-income communities.
They are changing the narrative on what independent education looks like, and who it benefits, and we will continue to support their vision of low-cost high-quality education.
It is clear that we will also need additional teaching capacity to cope with additional demand. Teachers are the backbone of our education system, and of our society. Without teachers, delivering quality education is impossible.
We have allocated funding for up to 701 additional teachers in our schools, includes up to 600 teachers in public ordinary schools, and up to 101 teachers in special needs schools. The filling of these posts is already under way.
This budget cycle is, however, not without risk. The system remains under extreme admissionspressure, with high demand and overcrowding continuing to pose a challenge as parents moveto the Western Cape for better opportunities and employment.
At the same time, we operate an aging portfolio of school infrastructure, needing repair and replacement. Our Budget Facility for Infrastructure (BFI) funding comes to an end in the outer year of the budget cycle, which will substantially reduce our budget for new infrastructure.
But despite the risks, and the very real challenges that face our education system, it is a system that works.
Over 1.2 million children go to school in the Western Cape each weekday, and by and large they do so safely, they have access to school meals and learner transport programmes, they receive extra academic support where needed, and benefit from the support of great teachers.
The system works because of our staff, who remain our department’s greatest asset, and it is to them that we give the credit for the successes of the past financial year. It is because of our staff that we have hope for a future of quality education for every learner, in every classroom, in every school in the Western Cape.
*Maynier is the MEC for Education in the Western Cape.
Opinion
iol.co.za
