Education
In relation to the funding of special needs schools:
- (a) What were the budget allocation to these schools in the (i) 2017/18, (ii) 2018/19, (iii) 2019/20, (iv) 2020/21 and (v) 2021/22 financial years, (b) on average, how much more funding is required per learner in comparison to those who attend conventional public schools;
- (a) whether these schools are factored in the provincial equitable share formula; if not, what has her Department done to lobby the National Treasury to accommodate this funding?
Reply
3. [1] [a]
|
Financial year |
Budget Allocation |
|
2017/18 |
R137 154 000.00 |
|
2018/19 |
R153 664 010.00 |
|
2019/20 |
R157 613 000.00 |
|
2020/21 |
R165 178 000.00 |
|
2021/22 |
R172 118 000.00 |
[b] Learners who have Barriers to Learning are weighted according to their category of disability i.e. whether they are deaf, blind or have any other disability. The category of disability receives a weighting.
The learner in a special school then receives the amount that the public ordinary school learner receives multiplied by the weighting for the category of disability that he/she has.
The disability weightings for the different categories of disability are as indicated below:
|
Barrier/Disability |
Weighting |
|
Learners with mild to moderate intellectual disability |
2.5* |
|
Learners with severe intellectual disability |
3 |
|
Learners with specific learning disability/dyslexia |
3 |
|
Learners with epilepsy |
3 |
|
Learners with physical disability and cerebral palsy |
4 |
|
Learners who are blind or deaf |
5 |
|
Learners with severe behaviour challenges |
5 |
|
Learners on the autism spectrum |
6 |
Example:
In 2021, a learner in a public ordinary school received R1 466. A learner who has a severe intellectual disability carries a weighting of 3. The amount allocated to the learner with the disability was thus R1466 x 3 = R4 398.
[2] [a] Special needs schools are not included in the equitable share formula.
[b] I have brought the matter to the attention of the Provincial Treasury for the purposes of their engagements with the National Treasury, as well as the Minister of Basic Education and the Council of Education Ministers, the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education in the National Assembly, and the Standing Committee on Education in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament.
