On Friday, 11 March 2016, EELC and EE made submissions on the 2016 Division of Revenue Bill before the Standing Committee on Appropriations in Parliament. The submissions provided detailed and critical analysis of the 2016 budget and allocations to education spend, particularly in relation to school infrastructure and scholar transport.
The report of the Committee has now been published and we are pleased that our submissions have been taken up in recommendations to the Minister of Finance.
The full report is available here.
In particular, the Committee has recommended that the Minister ensure:
► That the National Treasury and relevant stakeholders assess the efficacy of funding, spending and implementation performance of the scholar transport and school infrastructure programme.
► That the ring fencing of funding allocated to scholar transport to be used solely and exclusively for that purpose is explored.
► That systems to enhance monitoring and implementation of the Education Infrastructure Grant are developed and that the principles of openness and transparency in the planning and delivery of schools infrastructure is adhered to.
► That a programme is implemented to enhance the quality and consistency of information and data utilized by provinces and municipalities in areas such as scholar transport, schools infrastructure programme, and school nutrition programmes.
The Heinrich Böll Foundation supports EELC's parliamentary engagements and monitoring.