Grade R learners suffer due to the GP Education Department’s delay in payments for teaching material

Issued by Sergio Dos Santos MPL – DA Gauteng Spokesperson for Education
17 May 2022 in Press Statements

Early Childhood Development (ECD) has been economically affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic and this has been worsened by the Gauteng Department of Education’s delay in supplying learning material.

The Gauteng Department of Education’s (GDE) fourth quarterly report for the 2021/2022 financial year indicates the department’s gross over-expenditure of R194.7 million in the procurement of Teaching Supporting Material (TSM) for Programme 5: Early Childhood Development (ECD).

The programme was allocated R1.4 billion for the year and has spent R380.5 million or 205% from a quarterly allocation of R185.8 million.

The over-expenditure is said to be caused by delays in the delivery by suppliers during the first and the second quarter.

However, this is not the sole reason as the department also delayed payments which impacted on the commencement of the programme in schools.

The ECD is a vital programme which aims to provide public and ordinary schools with the necessary resources required at a Grade R level across the province and to provide sufficient support to educators in due course.

With the above mentioned, the delayed deliveries by suppliers and delays in the creation of purchase orders by the department have had a negative impact on the progress of learning in the province.

As a result of this, only 195 Grade R learners were found to be supported by the GDE Multi Certification Programme after an oversight was conducted at 99 schools in all 15 districts.

The early years of a child should be of priority to the GDE. However, these delays only contributed to many Grade R learners falling behind in the curriculum.

The DA will table questions to the Gauteng MEC for Education, Panyaza Lesufi in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) to ascertain the reasons for the delays from an administrative side and to determine which measures are being put in place to ensure that suppliers deliver goods in time.

The DA believes that every learner in Gauteng deserves all opportunities afforded by the government to meet their basic right to education.