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National Budget

More funds for student loan schemes

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:35

Education is central to our objective of broadening opportunity and fighting poverty. This budget prioritises school building, early childhood education, school books and educator remuneration.

Over the next three years, provinces have budgeted to spend over R18 billion on school infrastructure and equipment, so that we can indeed eradicate unsafe schools. The expansion of early childhood education to about 600 000 more children will put basic pre-school education within reach of even the poorest of households.

In addition, the school nutrition programme increases by over 30 per cent next year so that we can feed more children, in more schools, more days of the year.

In 2007/08, education spending in total exceeded R105 billion, rightly signifying that investing in the capabilities on which dignity, self-reliance and social progress are built,is at the centre of our development strategy.

And so we have an obligation to ensure that our democracy is invigorated by schools that are equipped and furnished, curricula that are right for our times – and in the words of the January 8th statement of the ANC:

Government expenditure on education will rise from R105 billion in the current financial year at an average of more than 11% of the next three years:
2008/09 - R121 087 000
2009/10 - R134 139 000
2001/11 - R146 680 000

Over the next three years the Higher Education sector receive an additional R1 100 000, above previous estimates. This will be broken down with R150m in each of the next two years and R800m in 2010/11.

The National school nutrition programme will receive an additional R1756m. This will comprise R345m in 2008/09, R493 in 2009/10 and R918m in 2010/11.