The department of basic education’s maths, science and technology grant has not only survived the axe, it has been allocated a 20% year-over-year boost in finance minister Enoch Godongwana’s unprecedented third version of South Africa’s national budget for the 2025/2026 fiscal year.
Following the rejection of the proposed 0.5 percentage point VAT hike in the previous version of the budget, spending across government faced the threat of budget cuts due to a R75-billion deficit over the medium term.
However, the R383-million allocated to the maths, science and technology grant for the 2024/2025 fiscal year will be increased to R459-million for 2025/2026.
The grant provides ICT equipment to schools with hope of creating better outcomes in maths and science in the long term, national treasury said in documents supporting Godongwana’s budget speech. “Over the medium term, R1.4-billion has been allocated to the grant.”
The grant is aimed at equipping selected public schools with the tools and technologies required to increase the number of pupils taking Stem (science, technology and maths) subjects.
Beyond the R459-million allocated for the current financial year, the fund will get an additional R480-million in 2026/2027 and a R502-million in 2027/2028, adding up to the R1.4-billion allocated over the medium term.
According to the Division of Revenue Bill, 99.9% of the R383-million disbursed to provincial bodies was spent in the previous fiscal year. The funds were used to provide ICT support in the form of laptops and software for Stem education in 4 400 public schools, most of which are in the Eastern Cape.
Priority
Some 220 schools received workshop equipment, including machinery and tools, to support the technology curriculum. Other areas of spending included laboratory equipment and consumables, student support material and teacher support programmes.
Not all public schools qualify for grant funding, and those serving the poorest communities are given priority.
Read: The 10 most expensive private schools in South Africa in 2025
“The grant is a targeted systemic capacity improvement programme. The number of schools requiring support is not proportionally distributed across the provinces. The level of support required by schools differs across provinces,” said the document. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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