Locked in the past – Schools catalogue freeze risks deepening divide, sabotaging literacy target
CAPE TOWN: South African public schools face relying on a dated textbook catalogue in 2027 as the rollout of new materials remains frozen pending legal advice. With principals calling for urgent guarantees that books will arrive on time, an education expert has warned that a prolonged delay could widen the divide between well-resourced and under-resourced schools – sabotaging an ambitious push to fix foundational literacy and numeracy by 2030.
School funding delays drive principals into personal credit card debt
POLOKWANE: School principals are getting into personal debt to keep schools functioning while provincial education departments delay releasing funds for basic operating costs.
Two years into her tenure, Gwarube faces a R140-billion school infrastructure crisis
CAPE TOWN: South Africa’s school infrastructure is caught in a double squeeze: shifting learner movements are leaving rural classrooms empty while urban demand outstrips space, according to Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube.
Principal association president issues 5-step appeal to ease burnout pressure
POLOKWANE: About 850 principals gathered in Limpopo to take stock of their challenges, with the president of the SA Principals Association calling on the government to reform systems to free up principals to do their job of leading schools.
Not so fast, Minister Gwarube: Limpopo learners share three pit toilets
POLOKWANE: Since the school opened 26 years ago, learners at Mashashane Primary School in Polokwane have relieved themselves in unhygienic, unsafe pit toilets. Despite promises and lofty announcements, little has changed.
‘A gamble on a child’s behalf’: the hazard of non-compliant school kitchens
CAPE TOWN: Millions of children rely on South Africa’s school nutrition programme for daily meals, but thousands are being served food from kitchens that have not met basic food safety standards. With a fraction of school kitchens holding the legally required Certificate of Acceptability, a food safety expert has issued a strong warning of the health hazards.
Eastern Cape concedes billions in school underfunding was unlawful
MAKHANDA: The Eastern Cape Department of Education admitted in the Makhanda High Court on Wednesday that it unlawfully withheld money from public schools for six years. About R6 billion has been held since 2020, according to calculations. But schools will not get the money back, and the withholding of funds continues until next year.
Gauteng school enrolments stretch R71bn budget
JOHANNESBURG: The application process for the 2027 academic year is now open, with Gauteng schools gearing up for rising learner numbers, over-stretched classrooms and ever-tight budgets.
No ECD data, deadline or set funding for deaf & blind kids
CAPE TOWN: South Africa does not know how many blind and deaf children are missing out on early childhood development (ECD) – and the government cannot say when it will have a national framework in place to ensure they are included. This comes a quarter of a century after the gazetting of a government blueprint on inclusive education.
Mpumalanga’s ‘vague’ reply to faulty schools trashed
JOHANNESBURG: Mpumalanga Education MEC Lindi Masina was due to present a progress report about urgent remedies for faulty schools to parliament on Tuesday. Instead, MPs rejected the report and ordered the province to redo it. Unreliable water supplies, overcrowded classrooms, sanitation and maintenance backlogs, unsafe infrastructure and educator shortages were among the myriad shortcomings identified at schools.
Lost or locked away: inside a R686m school tablet project
MAKHANDA: In 2025, the Eastern Cape Department of Education committed R686-million to equipping 54,000 matriculants with tablets and data. The data stopped being provided for months in 2025. More than a third of the devices were not returned at year-end, while thousands more are damaged or sit locked away. The Education Desk contacted 12 schools that received tablets, and not one of them is still running the programme.
Call to act over 60% burnout rate among SA’s principals
JOHANNESBURG: A damning survey by the Governing Body Foundation (GBF) on the administrative load of public school principals reveals that almost 60% are considering quitting their posts, with 92% saying their workload has increased over five years. The GBF will flag its recommendations at a curriculum framework meeting next month.
R5 billion withheld: The EC school funding crisis
MAKHANDA: Since 2020, the Eastern Cape Department of Education has retained about R5 billion from the budgets of its poorest schools, ostensibly for “centralised procurement”. Some of that money could have funded teacher support, classroom libraries, and access to abundant free digital resources – multiple times over.