IN an effort to improve the education system in KZN government schools, Finance MEC Francois Rodgers announced that his department will allocate R900m to schools for the purchase of textbooks and learning aids for the next academic year.
However, the announcement received mixed reactions, with some community members arguing that the funds should have been allocated directly to schools to address their most pressing needs.
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A member of the school governing body from Wentworth, Andre de Bruin, raised concerns that the funds might be spent on less critical items instead of addressing the most urgent needs.
“We welcome the R900m that the department suggested to spend on schools next year. However, every school receives a different allocation of the budget, whether primary or high school. The concern arises when you consider that high schools, for example, need textbooks from Grade Eight to matric, yet often don’t receive sufficient funding to cover that need. Meanwhile, contracts are awarded to individuals or companies to procure these books,” said De Bruin.
De Bruin believes that if schools were given the allocation to buy the textbooks, they would use the money wisely and even spend the funds on meaningful school programmes.
DA PR councillor, Sithembiso Ngema, said the MEC for Education, Sipho Hlomuka and Rodgers affirmed that challenges pertaining to the purchase of learning and teaching support materials will be resolved before the commencement of the 2026 academic year.
“Officials from both departments met on October 2 to find solutions on financial challenges faced by the provincial education department. More than R200m was also made available for upcoming examination period, with matric markers guaranteed their salaries in December,” said Ngema in a statement.
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