Gwarube says Grade R reform at risk as education budgets buckle

Staff Reporter

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube has warned that cash-strapped provincial education departments are beginning to buckle, forcing the state to redirect money from early childhood development (ECD) to keep compulsory Grade R reforms alive.

South Africa is trying to implement the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act, which makes Grade R attendance compulsory.

At the same time, it is battling teacher-post placements, infrastructure backlogs and a literacy crisis in which 81% of Grade 4 learners could not read for meaning in any language in the 2021 PIRLS assessment.

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