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The Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube.
The Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube has increased the allocation of conditional grant for Early Childhood Development (ECD) to R1.7 billion.
Gwarube says this allocation will address challenges of literacy and numeracy at the primary learning phase. The minister spoke about this when she was tabling the budget vote for the department for 2025/26 financial year in Parliament.
She says in total the department has been allocated R35 billion.
“The Department of Basic Education receives a total budget of R35 billion increase, from last year. Resources are focused where the greatest need is and the greatest impact will be in the five national priorities. The ECD conditional grant therefore increases to R1.7 billion with over R30 million of that allocated to the ECD nutrition pilot,” explains Gwarube.
The Minister says there is R162 million set aside for ECD infrastructure.
“Our goal is very clear. Every child must enter Grade R, ready to learn in all respects. Our strategy centres around foundational learning ensuring that all children can read and calculate by age 10,” adds Gwarube.
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