25 February 2021
Equal Education budget reaction statement: The 2021 budget provides a small amount of relief for education, but overall the cuts are going to hurt schools
Yesterday, when Finance Minister Tito Mboweni tabled the 2021 budget, there was slightly better news for education than in last year’s Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), but the overall story is still that government is refusing to invest enough into quality teaching and learning for all.
With last year’s Supplementary Budget and MTBPS, Mboweni chopped away at basic education funding and infrastructure grants. Since October, Equal Education’s (EE) learner, post-school youth and parent members have protested – yesterday again taking to the streets outside Parliament – to demand that government prioritise education, that the budget cuts be reversed and that education be declared a frontline department in the fight against COVID-19. The little bit of relief announced in yesterday’s budget speech is thanks to the determined advocacy of school communities! But the victory is bittersweet because the relief is small in comparison to the cuts introduced last year.
Download and read our full statement here.
