Basic Education Minister, Ms Siviwe Gwarube, this week briefed the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education on the 2026 Budget Review and the status of the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP). The Minister added that the Department’s Planning Framework is anchored in the National Development Plan (NDP) and the Action Plan to 2029: Towards the realisation of schooling 2030 and priorities identified for this Administration. These include Strengthening Foundational Learning; Improving Literacy, Numeracy and Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education (MTbBE); Expanding access to Early Childhood Development; Supporting inclusive education; Strengthening teacher capacity and curriculum delivery; Health promotion and social cohesion; and Infrastructure delivery, learner transport and school safety for improving the overall functioning of the system.

In her opening statement, the Minister said that these were two important matters: “The Budget deals with the overall planning and priorities in the use of public resources, whilst the other deals with the most direct and immediate intervention through which government supports learners on a daily basis. Together, they speak to the core responsibility of the sector to ensure that the system works in practice for the children that we serve. As the Department presents the 2026/27 Annual Performance Plan (APP) and Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), it is important to remain clear about the purpose of the exercise. This is not merely a compliance exercise, tabling plans, indicators, budget, it is whether the Department is properly aligned to the long-term goals of the sector, focussed on the correct responsibilities to deliver measurable improvements in the quality of Basic Education”.

Mr Pat Khunou, DBE’s CFO, and Ms Nosipho Mbonambi, Director for Strategic Planning, presented the APP and Budget Review to the Committee. The Annual Performance Plan (APP) is divided into four parts: the Mandate; Strategic Focus; Measuring of Performance; and the Technical Indicator Descriptions (TIDs), whilst the activities of the DBE cover the five programmes: Administration; Curriculum Policy, Support and Monitoring; Teachers, Education Human Resources and Institutional Development; Planning, Information and Assessment; and Educational Enrichment Services and as elaborated in the Annual Performance Plan, across 66 indicators. The 2026/27 MTEF Budget allocations for the DBE amounts to R28,225,902 with the total allocated to Conditional Grants at R32,718,829. The total allocation budget for the NSNP for the 2026/27 financial year is R10,318,714.

The NSNP remains one of the most important interventions, feeding 9.4 million learners in 20,000 primary, secondary, and identified special schools, creating job opportunities for 62,000 Food Handlers. Mr Stanley Ndlovu, Chief Director for Care and Support in Schools, presented the NSNP Reform Implementation Plan. The NSNP currently operates through both centralised and decentralised provincial models, each with inefficiencies that affect cost, consistency and the quality of meals. To address these systemic gaps, the DBE is implementing a set of five focused workstreams to strengthen procurement, governance, digital monitoring and local participation, and thereby improve overall efficiency and quality of delivery.

Dr Granville Whittle, Deputy Director-General for Sector Care and Support Services, said that the intention is to move away from a centralised model and implement at provincial level but with the inclusion of specifications as part of the model. The Minister has taken the proposed model to Cabinet twice during the past two years and recommendations were for further strengthening, especially collaboration and participation of other departments. The Department is in a process of consultation as per recommendation. Director-General, Mr Mathanzima Mweli has approved the consultation schedule with the various provinces ahead of resubmission to Cabinet. Our work with the Department of Agriculture is particularly advanced to provide fruits and vegetables as part of the programme, based on the NSNP model that is utilised in Brazil.

In conclusion, Minister Gwarube summarised that although the fiscal realities facing the already underfunded education sector, resulting in a shrinking fiscal envelope is a challenge, the Budget review and the APP remain the most important instruments to ensure that plans and outputs align to the Medium-Term Development Plan 2024-2029 priorities and the vision of government as the real test of measurable gains in learning and support.