Budget confirms importance of education for growth
Thursday, 13 March 2014
High investment Education the lifeblood of our economic growth – MEC Masuku
The Mpumalanga Government has allocated R51. 5 billion for the implementation of programmes aimed at improving the quality of education and skills over the 2014 MTEF period,
says MEC Madala Masuku.
Announcing the spending priorities of the provincial government on Tuesday, 11 March 2014, MEC Masuku said the investment in education is informed by a belief that education
is the backbone of future economic prosperity for every society.
During the 2014/15 financial year, the education department will receive the largest share of the provincial budget of R36.4 billion.
A total budget allocated to education is R16.1 billion.
“The allocation to education includes an additional amount of R256.3 million for school infrastructure in 2014/15 and R40 million for modification of the structure and
operationalization of the MST Academy,” said MEC Masuku.
He added that the department will also use the budget to implement programmes aimed to improve performance in mathematics and physical science; to support the systems and
ensure qualitative improvement of results at underperforming schools.
The Province has seen major improvement in its Grade 12 results in the recent period and the emergence of successive unqualified audit reports continues to justify the
investment in education priority.