2026/27 Education Budget – We are getting it done

23 March 2026 – Speech by Minister David Maynier, Minister of Education Western Cape

We have a vision of delivering quality education for every learner, in every classroom, in every school in the Western Cape.

Delivering quality education means setting higher standards, and pushing harder to meet them. 

Because quality education means more economic growth,

And more economic growth means more jobs,

And more jobs means a better future for our children. 

And we are getting it done. 

We will spend R35.1 billion on Education in the 2026/27 financial year, which is the largest departmental budget in the Western Cape. 

To deliver quality education, we are:

• Strengthening early learning,
• Improving learning outcomes,
• Expanding access to education,
• Supporting learners with special education needs,
• And building partnerships with the private sector.

Strengthening early learning

This year, we will spend R102.9 million on strengthening early learning, so that our learners will have a strong foundation for their education, which gives them a better chance of succeeding in higher grades and in their post-school careers.

Last month, we announced that our Grade 3 learners had achieved their highest annual systemic test scores ever. 

Since 2021, our Grade 3 learners’ Mathematics pass rate has increased by 17.7 percentage points, from 44.3% to 62.0%. 

And the Grade 3 Language pass rate has increased by 14.3 percentage points, from 36.9% to 51.2%.

But we need to do more, so we have introduced new measures to support Foundation Phase teachers and learners this year.

We have introduced baseline assessments of literacy and numeracy skills for all Foundation Phase learners at the beginning of the school year, to help teachers identify gaps in learning early, and to tailor our interventions to support learners. 

We have implemented reading fluency benchmarks in the Foundation Phase, which serve as clear, measurable goals that guide teaching, learning, and assessment throughout the school year. 

We have launched a structured numeracy intervention for teachers and learners in the Foundation Phase, following the success of our early-grade reading interventions for these grades. 

The intervention includes teacher training, teacher guides, learner books and Maths resource kits to support the new teaching skills.  

And we have just launched our Western Cape Reading and Literacy Strategy, with a clear and ambitious goal: every learner must be able to read for meaning by the age of 10.

We are getting it done.

Improving learning outcomes 

This year, we will spend R191.1 million on improving learning outcomes in Grades 4 through 12, so that learners are supported throughout their school careers. 

Our successful #BackOnTrack programme will continue to offer support across grades in the coming year, with 34 200 learners in Grades 4, 7, 10, 11 and 12 receiving extra classes. 

We will offer additional training to 1 530 teachers in Grades 4, 8, 9, 10 and 11, as well as an open “Just in Time” online training programme for 3 100 teachers in Grades 11 and 12.

We are also refining our programme to ensure that it aligns with our department’s key priorities. 

We need to have:

• More learners taking Maths,
• More learners passing Maths,
• And more learners passing Maths well, with a score of 60% or more. 

So a key amendment to the #BackOnTrack programme this year is a focus on improving Mathematics participation and outcomes in the Grade 10, 11 and 12. 

This will include extra classes for 4 000 learners in Grade 10, and another 4 000 in Grade 11, so that we retain these learners in Mathematics throughout the phase. 

Technical education also has the potential to be a key driver of economic growth, but our technical schools are not currently reaching their full potential to develop the future engineers, technicians and technologists our economy needs. 

We will invest in revitalising our technical schools, including upgrading workshops, modernising equipment, and supporting teachers in technical subjects, so that these schools deliver learners with the skills to take up and create jobs in these fields. 

We are also refining our teacher training across grades, to more closely align to our priorities to improve learning outcomes. 

This includes closer monitoring and evaluation of our training, to ensure that every hour a teacher spends in training has a measurable impact in the classroom. 

We are getting it done.

Expanding access to quality education

This year, we will spend R2.7 billion on school infrastructure, to expand access to quality education.

Our Rapid School Build programme continues to go from strength to strength, and the pace at which we are building is a game-changer for education. 

This year, we aim to deliver 280 classrooms in new and existing schools across the province, and we aim to have 10 new schools ready to open for the start of the 2027 school year.

Our new schools incorporate green energy systems to reduce our demand on the grid, and contribute to our province’s vision of energy security. 

We will continue to strengthen our partnerships with local governments across the province, to coordinate and speed up planning and development of new schools.

We will also invest in maintaining and upgrading our existing schools, so that even as we add additional capacity to meet demand, our existing schools remain fit for purpose. 

We are getting it done.

Supporting learners with special education needs

This year, we will spend R2 billion to support learners with special education needs, so that they are able to learn and thrive in a specialised environment. 

One of the new schools being completed, with the support of our sister Department of Infrastructure, is the Manenberg School of Skills, which will offer practical vocational education to learners who thrive in this curriculum.

We are allocating additional budget from our provincial funds to expanding support to learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder, at R78.3 million, and Learners with Profound and Intellectual Disabilities, at R77.2 million.

Our special needs teachers are the guardian angels of our learners with special education needs, and carry a heavy burden with care and kindness. 

With an increasing demand for placement our most vulnerable learners, we need to ensure our special needs programme is fully capacitated. 

So we have allocated funding for up to 101 additional special needs teachers, to increase support for learners requiring specialised support. 

We are getting it done.

Building partnerships

This year, we will spend R5 million supporting the Edu Invest initiative at Wesgro, to drive private and donor investment in education in the Western Cape. 

The return on investment in Edu Invest is impressive: for the 2025/26 financial year, the team facilitated R320 million in new independent school projects, mainly in low-fee and no-fee schools.

These schools make high-quality education accessible to learners in low-income communities, and the difference they are making in the lives of our children is astounding.

One of these education providers, Apex Education Group, recently shared a groundbreaking commitment to build 10 schools in 10 years, serving 10 000 learners from low-income communities. 

They are changing the narrative on what independent education looks like, and who it benefits, and we will continue to support their vision of low-cost high-quality education. 

We are getting it done.

Strengthening capacity and mitigating risks

Executing these priorities in a system under pressure will require additional capacity. 

Teachers are the backbone of our education system, and of our society. Without teachers, delivering quality education is impossible.

This year, we have allocated funding for up to 701 additional teachers in our schools. 

This includes up to 600 teachers in public ordinary schools, and up to 101 teachers in special needs schools, and filling some of these posts is already underway.

We will also need to make our classrooms safer environments that better support teaching and learning, and so this year we will spend R72.7 million improving safety in schools.

We will also be increasing our focus on improving school attendance, ensuring time on task, and improving discipline in our schools this year. 

Nevertheless, our department remains under severe fiscal pressure and we face a number of serious risks, including:

• Significant admissions pressure,
• Overcrowded classrooms,
• Aging school infrastructure,
• Unfunded mandates,
• And the winding down of our additional Budget Facility for Infrastructure (BFI) funding. 

We will continue to do everything we can to carefully manage these risks and maintain stability in our system, with the support of our officials, principals, teachers and school staff.

Conclusion

But despite the risks, and the very real challenges that face our education system, it is a system that works. 

Over 1.2 million children go to school in the Western Cape each weekday, and by and large they do so safely, they have access to school meals and learner transport programmes, they receive extra academic support where needed, and benefit from the support of great teachers. 

The system works because of our staff, who remain our department’s greatest asset. 

Thank you to all of our Western Cape Education Department staff, under the leadership of our Superintendent-General, Mr Brent Walters, our Head Office, district offices, principals, and school management teams. 

And to our teachers across the province, from the Cape Town metro to the far reaches of our rural districts:

You are our agents of hope, and you get it done.

Thank you for your care, for your dedication, and for your love for the children of the Western Cape.