Education budget buckles under pressure
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Monday March 9, 2026 09:42
The above follows a revelation by Minister of Child Welfare and Basic Education, Nono , policy-driven expenditure increases, and persistent funding shortfalls that threaten smooth service delivery.
When presenting Consolidated and Development Funds Estimates before the Committee of Supply in Parliament, she said the Ministry was allocated P11,684,932,980 for the 2025/2026 financial year. “As of February 24, 2026, P10, 476,774,586 representing 90% of the total allocation had already been utilised, leaving limited room to manoeuvre for the remainder of the financial cycle,” she said.
According to the Minister, the execution of the budget has been weighed down by several key challenges. Foremost among them is a shortage of funds to pay temporary teachers’ salaries, a development that risks destabilising staffing arrangements in schools.
In addition, she said the ministry has struggled to meet utility obligations, particularly rising water bills, and inadequate funding has hampered maintenance of education facilities, raising concerns about the condition of school infrastructure nationwide.
“The major challenges that the Ministry faced during execution of the 2025/2026 Recurrent Budget have been a shortage of funds to pay Temporary Teachers’ salaries, utilities (especially water bills), maintenance of education facilities, textbooks and stationery for students. Furthermore, the Public Service Management Directive No.6 of October 2025, which enhanced housing and upkeep allowances effective 1st April 2025, consequently affected the Ministerial budget,” she said. However, the Minister said the approved estimates for the recurrent budget for the financial year 2025/2026 was P11, 684,932,980.
She said under the Development Budget, an amount of P828, 631,471 was initially allocated for the 2025/2026 financial year. In addition, she said the budget was subsequently revised downwards to P597, 451,304. “Thus, we appreciate it due to the overall economic challenges. As at 24th February 2026, the Ministry had expended P381,550,751, representing 64 percent of the revised budget,” she said.
She, however, said the Development Budget was predominantly used under the Secondary Education Programme, with major expenditures directed towards infrastructure development, particularly the expansion and maintenance of schools, as well as the construction of staff houses, in line with the government’s commitment to improve access, quality, and learning conditions within the education sector.
While Access to Quality Education, the Minister said, as they concluded the 2025/2026 financial year, she is pleased to report that 756 out of 779 primary schools have now rolled out the reception Class Programme, an increase from 742 schools in the 2024/2025 financial year. “This expansion has seen our enrolments growing from 32,590 learners in 2024 to 35,512 children in 2025, representing a significant 9% increase. While some schools continue to face infrastructure challenges due to lack of additional classrooms, we also recognise that access remains a challenge in high-density urban and semi-urban areas,” she said. “The Ministry continues to support early development through a grant system for community day care centres. To this end, the Ministry has disbursed only P5,180,000 this financial year to fund these nursery operations.”
Moreover, she said the Ministry is actively exploring additional options to expand programme access across the remaining 23 schools, with a specific focus on the Central Region, where 13 schools have not yet implemented the rollout. “ Our proposed strategy includes the adoption of four Public-Private Partnership (PPP) models and the establishment of satellite schools. Through these models, we will engage Private Sector Entities, Communities, Faith-Based Organisations, and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to partner with Government in creating much-needed space for Early Childhood Development (ECD) services,” she said.
She, however, stated that the Ministry continues to face shortage of permanent posts for both teachers and teacher aides, which threatens programme continuity, as many staff members remain on temporary contracts. She said it is therefore critical that they prioritise the creation of permanent positions for this cadre to ensure stability and sustained quality of learning for our students.
She said to increase access for children, as required by the BETP, the Ministry requires additional resources to pay private sector day care centres to enrol more children, especially the orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs).