Education gets the lion’s share
THE Eastern Cape Department of Education will be retraining teachers with the aim of improving matric results, especially for maths and science.
Information about the programme was revealed yesterday during the news that the department had been allocated R34.7-billion for the 2018-19 financial year – the biggest slice of the provincial budget.
Ramping up its efforts to ensure it received good passes, Bhisho has roped in the help of Cuban maths and science education specialists to help with training teachers already on the government’s payroll.
Tabling the provincial budget, Finance MEC Sakhumzi Somyo said this demonstrated that they were taking education seriously.
“The biggest recipient in terms of our funding is education, which is an apex priority. Health and education are the primacy for an active society.
“The biggest expense of the Department of Education goes towards teaching. Teachers are receiving 30% of the budget for education, and that tells you the Eastern Cape is taking education very seriously and that there must be a teacher in front of the learners.”
Somyo said the hope was that the allocation would improve the matric results. The Eastern Cape achieved a 65% average last year.
Education MEC Mandla Makupula said the allocated money would go a long way towards helping the department reach its targets. “We are dealing with a living organism here. A teacher who was taught in the ‘80s needs to be upgraded.
“It is a continuous thing with the changing of the syllabus and as technology develops.”