The department was allocated R20,346 billion in 2022/23 and R39,834 billion for the two other years of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period. 

According to MEC Motlalepula Rosho, the allocation to education translates into the largest share, namely 40,9% of the provincial budget. She said the total allocation is inclusive of R1,237 billion in the 2022/23 financial year and R2,411 billion over the MTEF for education infrastructure provision. 

She announced that the total budget for the province amounts to R49,712 billion in the 2022/23 financial year and R97,880 billion in the last two years of the MTEF.

"The 2022/23 budget allocation is made up of the Provincial Equitable Share amounting to R39,540 billion, R8,568 billion for the Conditional Grants, and R1,6 billion from own provincial funding. The provincial budget incorporates the restructuring of some of the conditional grants and changes to accommodate the planned function shifts in the agricultural sector as well as the social development and education sectors," Rosho said.

She adds that in alignment with national priority outcomes, the province has ensured that the budget of social sector departments is protected over the MTEF.

She says this is to ensure that the province continues to provide and expand services provided by the Departments of Education, Health, Social Development, Human Settlements, and Arts, Culture, Sports, and Recreation.

Other key programmes to be funded, include Early Childhood Development (ECD) at the Grade R and Pre-Grade R levels, the Sanitary Dignity Project, which ensures that young girls remain in school and have access to sanitary dignity products in public schools, and the National School Nutrition Programme Grant which provides more than 191 000 learners with a hot meal at school every day," Rosho further added.

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